" data-original-title="" title="">Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers and Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, and he was just the preeminent member of a hearty and considerable band. Listen to the banjo breaks on those great early sides, and you get a glimpse into the folk roots of this music—its common roots with modern folk and rock. But on the jazz side of the street, banjo aficionados are hard pressed to find St. Cyr's musical heirs. Hard-pressed, that is, until the arrival on the scene of Cynthia Sayer, the extraordinary banjoist and singer.

Alas, Jelly Roll and Satch are long gone, and their heirs aren't working with banjos (although after his recent bagpipe excursions, I'm still hoping Anthony Braxton will give Cynthia a call). So what's a jazz banjo player to do?

Just about everything, in fact. Look for Cynthia Sayer, and you're likely to see her, banjo in hand, standing next to some of the leading talents in "traditional" jazz, plus not a few luminaries in other fields: