From Passion to Main Stage: Today Kelly is in conversation with Jazz Saxophonist Kim Cypher

From Passion to Main Stage, today Kelly speaks with Kim Cypher.

Following Your Dreams 

 In this inspiring conversation, jazz saxophonist, vocalist, and composer Kim Cypher shares her journey from discovering the saxophone as a teenager to performing on the main stage of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Growing up in Cheltenham, Kim found music to be a powerful outlet for expression and emotional release, eventually turning her lifelong passion into a full-time career alongside her husband and drummer, Mike. Despite early doubts from others and the challenges of the music industry, the couple took a leap of faith leaving secure careers to pursue their dream of becoming professional musicians.

Kim also reflects on how deeply personal experiences shape her music, including the loss of her father, which inspired one of her most heartfelt songs. Refusing to be confined to one genre, her sound blends jazz, Latin, funk, blues, and reggae, making her a truly unique voice in the industry. At its core, Kim believes music is about connection sharing stories from the heart that resonate with audiences and remind us all of the power of passion, perseverance, and creativity. 🎷✨

#jazz #musicians #festival #cheltenhamjazzfestival #festivals #music #saxophonist #passion

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Kelly has been presenting radio shows for a while, and has often been asked if these shows can be heard again many months after the show has aired, listeners wanting to listen again. She heard what was being asked and now brings to you …

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Kelly Saward in Conversation with ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I am joined today by Kim Cypher, and I'm really excited about this conversation. I've been listening to your music actually, Kim, in the car just now. And um, yeah, one of the songs actually we'll come on to that, but it was with the waves at the beginning and how time passes by so quickly. So I want to touch on that. But introduce yourself to the listeners, Kim. Tell us who you are, what you do, and we will go from there.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

I'm a saxophonist, vocalist, and composer. Um, mostly uh performing jazz with my husband, Mike's my favorite who is my drummer.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

That's lovely, isn't it? So what came first? The um the husband or the the career in music? What a good question.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

But I mean um we did meet through music, so we actually met in the Gloucestershire Youth Jazz Orchestra in our teenage years. So the music was always there for both of us first, but yeah, then then you know the rest is history, really.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

That's lovely, isn't it? So was the saxophone the first instrument you ever played, Kim?

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Well, I no, is the answer to that, because when I was at primary school, you know how you you progress the usual instruments, don't you? So I suppose recorder was my first instrument, much to the despair of my my long-suffering parents. And then they bought me a piano, which I absolutely loved. And although I didn't have any lessons on piano, I used to love just sitting at the piano and you know, working out chords and singing melodies. Um, and that was from quite an early age. But then when I had the choice to learn an instrument in school, I was offered the clarinet, which I played, and I went through all the grades, you know, like you do, right up to grade eight. But I never felt that I'd found my instrument, you know. The clarinet's lovely, but it wasn't my instrument. And then I moved over to the saxophone, which was quite rare back in back in the day, makes me sound very old. But the minute I found the saxophone, I just thought, yeah, this is the one. It's it's definitely my instrument. And what was it about that?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Do you think? Did you because listening to the saxophone, it has got quite a special touch that place in your heart when I listen to it. I know everybody has their own instrument, but there is something it takes you on a journey, like a real deep journey, doesn't it? Either uplifting or actually you can touch that real sort of sad space, essentially, can't you, with it?

SPEAKER_01 2:14

You can. This is what I love about it. And I mean, the clarinet, I loved it, and technically it was good, you know, but I could never really express myself how I wanted to on the clarinet. And I suppose being a creative, I've always had a bit of a kind of rebellious streak. And I wanted an instrument that could just reflect me, my mood, my personality. And I found that with the saxophone, you know, my my mum and dad used to say that I would come in from school some days when I'd had a bad day, and I would disappear up to my bedroom, sort of slamming the doors as I went. I'd play my saxophone for an hour, and then I would come down a completely different person, you know, like calm, got it all out my system. So yeah, it's definitely an instrument that you can express yourself on.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

But I think it's so important what you said there, that we all have access to something like that, something where if we're having a bad day, if we're feeling a certain thing, that we've got a space where we can go and really tap into what needs to be sort of expressed and felt, really, because we shut so much down, don't we? So what a beautiful thing to early on be able to connect with that. Okay, I need a bit of peace, I can go up to my bedroom and play the saxophone.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Sometimes it, you know, I didn't even know that that was what I was doing, if you thought I mean therapy, if you like. And in as you say, it is so important to have that thing that you can do or that space you can be in. Reset and rebalance.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Yeah, reset and rebalance. I like that. How old were you when you very first played your the recorder? Let's go back to them. How old were you? Well, I was quite young.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

I mean, I think I probably was about six. Um, I remember um I had this amazing primary school teacher called Mr. Harrison. And um, and in fact, I I've met up with him recently. Now he's quite an elderly gentleman now, but I always wanted to thank him because even though I was only six and seven and eight, because he taught me music um throughout primary school, he allowed me so much freedom. And I remember, you know, at the age of about seven, being almost allowed to sort of direct the music in the school play. And I just remember him giving me all these instruments, like a block and spiel, you know, in percussion, and him just saying, you know, play along, do your thing. And so I was really grateful for that. So yeah, it was about the age of six that I started the recording.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I think that just goes to show though, if someone has belief in you, when you get a good teacher or a good mentor or like supportive parents or good friends, they can make your whole life experience completely different.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Oh, absolutely. And I I mean, I I'm sure that if I hadn't had Mr. Harrison as my primary school music teacher, would I be doing what I'm doing today? I I honestly don't know because he just allowed me that freedom and I I was allowed to explore and realize how much I loved music. And so, yeah, it definitely sparked something in me.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

I love that. And I think um it's no secret that you are playing at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. You're Cheltenham born, bred, and raised there, aren't you? So what a moment for you to just be going back and playing on that stage. Tell me a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Yeah, I mean, I am actually Cheltenham born and bred. I love my hometown, I love my local community. So nothing fills me with more pride and joy than performing in my hometown festival, which is a hugely prestigious jazz festival. But I have to say, the journey to get to this point has been a very, very long journey. So it makes it even more special because I mean my first performance in the Cheltenham Jazz Festival was way back in 2008 when myself and my husband weren't even professional musicians. We had professional careers in other fields and we were running our music as a hobby. But since 2008, I've performed in the the around the town fringe festival and on the pre-stage many, many, many times. But um, I always had this dream to be part of the main festival, you know, as a local girl. Um and I finally got that opportunity last year, which was a dream come true. So um I never expected in a million years to be invited back again. This year. So it's kind of like double dream come true now. That's so exciting. How did it feel when you got that invitation? Amazing. I mean, we've done a lot of things in our music career because when we gave up our day jobs, because I was a um head of music in a school and my husband was a regional bank manager, and and we made a brave decision 15 years ago to basically give up our jobs and become professional jazz musicians, despite everybody's advice not to do it. Um so we we set ourselves some goals and some challenges along the way. Um, and we we have achieved them over the years. But the one that was still outstanding, and of course I got that last year, and I can honestly say I will never ever forget, I get really emotional talking about it. That moment stepping out onto the stage in the jazz arena and my local crowd cheering and clapping, and it was as if we were all sharing that that wonderful moment, that dream, you know, together.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

I think it's so important though, because we do have knockbacks in life, don't we? And setbacks, and people will try and keep us safe and say, don't do this, don't follow that dream, you know, and all the different things. But you've proved that you've continued to stick with something that you really love, your passion of music, you know, with your husband as well. And you got to have that moment. And now that's just carrying you forward. You're living that in that space, and you get to do it all over again this year.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

I know, I can't believe it. Like I say, it's a bit of a pinch me moment because I'd kind of ticked it off my my list of things to do. It was the final kind of dream I'd set myself. Um, and it was kind of a sense of relief in a way to think, oh, I I finally achieved everything that I'd set out to achieve. And I was kind of all set to start thinking of some new goals, you know, and dreams. So to kind of then get that just kind of fall in my lap. Um, because also as musicians, independent musicians, working on our own all the time, we're not used to things coming easy. You're used to a challenge, a battle, you know, a fight to get what you want. So when what you want just kind of drops in your lap, it's almost like, no. Um slight weird, really, to explain.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Well, I think you thoroughly deserve it. I don't think it's just falling in your lap because you've obviously been connected to this passion for a really long time. You're working really hard and you've had to really prove yourself, you know, even within in this space to get there. And you're not only a saxophonist, but you're a vocalist as well. You sing your own music and a composer, and you do a whole range of different music, don't you? So some of it's really quite uplifting, that kind of funky jazz, but then you do a bit of reggae, and there's some really moving music as well that you're you're doing. Tell me about the different genres that you like to play.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Oh, well, thank you. I I mean I'm glad that you're enjoying listening to my music, but um, it's been a bit tough really as an artist because all my music is inspired. So I don't sit down in a room one day and think, right, I'm gonna compose an album. They're all things that come spontaneously to me, inspired by something, a person, or something that's happened in my life, which means that I never really have any control over how that piece of music is gonna be. So this is why my style is so wide and varied, because one day I might write a little Latin bossa nova, but the next day I might write a real full-on bunky piece with a sack. Um, and then I might sit down and write a really heartfelt ballad. You know, it's so mixed. But as an artist and an independent artist, it's been hard, I think, for the industry to know what to do with me. And so although I see it as a positive, I just write my music. You can't put me into a box, you can't into one genre. It's just Kim Cypher. The industry finds that, I think, difficult to deal with me, which is why I think my journey has been probably a little bit longer and a little bit harder than perhaps somebody that specializes in one genre. So maybe they're a swing artist or maybe they're blues. It's a lot easier to kind of um make sure they get channeled in the right direction.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

I think that's lovely that I can really relate to what you're saying there in my own work. Not that you know, I play an instrument, but just sharing your voice and just staying consistent and true to who you are, because it's really important that you're following that calling from your heart with what's coming through to you and sharing that. And it shows that you know you're adaptable and versatile into the space. And it's like that song that was I was when I was listening, I thought, oh, this or that sounds really kind of like sort of funky, and I I love the sort of reggae vibe and things like that. And then I come across the song The Time Goes, that's what it's called, isn't it? And then there's the waves at the beginning, and then your voice comes in and just expresses how you wake up one moment and a whole year has passed. And I think we can all relate to that in our lives, can't we? You're in a moment in time, and then all of a sudden you're you've you've got moved through so much.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Yeah, well, but this is all my music, I think people can relate to it because it's it's all inspired by personal experience, and my experiences in life will be the same as as everybody else's. And I mean, that particular piece of music is quite a different piece for me, but it came from my album called Catching Moments, which basically was an album that I took four years to to write. But it's basically every track on the album is completely different. It's all about something in my life that that happened in that particular piece was that unfortunately during COVID, my dad, my beautiful daddy, wasn't very well. Um, and we sadly lost him. So can you take me back to that time? Yeah, so I mean I remember waking up on the year, the anniversary of losing my dad, and suddenly thinking, where did that year go? You know, like when you just think, I can't believe that a whole year has passed. I I genuinely don't know where that's gone. And I got out of bed and I went straight to my piano and and just wrote that tune because it was just something in me that just needed to come out, something that I know everybody can relate to because time, especially as you get older, time just kind of goes by, doesn't it? Where does time go?

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Yeah, I know, and I think I really felt that in that song actually, just the combination of the music and the pauses and that reflection right at the beginning just was able to take you into that space, and that's so powerful, isn't it? The music.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Oh, absolutely. I mean, and you can express so much through the music, and that is is a sort of unusual piece for me because it's so stripped back, it's very kind of exposed, you know. It's just me with um the wonderful Antonio Foccioni on guitar um and and some sax playing as well, but it's it's so exposed, it's very vulnerable, you know.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

I think that's important though, and I think more of this is going to be coming through because even Cheltenham and the festival is the next chapter, isn't it? It's moving into that next chapter, that's what they're moving to, culture. So I'm I just think it's so important for us to feel connected through music and stories. And when people are singing and sharing music vulnerably from that place and trusting their heart, you're sharing a story through music, aren't you? Just how wonderful the vulnerability that lies in that alone.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Oh, absolutely. And I mean, all of my music, if you dipped into any of my original music, um, you would know exactly, you know, what it's about and where it's come from because everything is inspired, you know, by a person or by something that's happened. But even it, you know, at a live performance, what's wonderful is just sharing that sort of special connection that you get um, you know, through music with your audience, you can feel it. You know that in, and I remember because um I studied with a wonderful saxophonist called Andy Shepherd. And I remember having a conversation with him, which really will stay with me forever because we were talking about how our kind of feelings within us, within our heart, is then sort of expressed through our saxophone and into the hearts of the people that are listening. So it's a very kind of deep connection that you can't even really explain. But when people leave a live gig, you know, and you chat to them afterwards, you know that they've felt that connection. It's something really, really special.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah, I completely relate. I do a lot of heart-led work in well-being and mental health and things like that. And just hearing you say there that, you know, just the energy of the music that's coming out from your heart into that audience and then how that's received, will it also be individual to every single person, but touch them in their own special way?

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Yeah, and it's interesting because um I played a gig last year and I actually performed Where Time Goes, which I wouldn't normally do because it's not with a full band, and I played it, and the reaction, you know, was was kind of as you'd expect it to be um when you perform a song like that live. But I actually had a message um from an audience member after that gig just to say what it had meant to her because she'd lost somebody and she just hung on to every word I'd said. And just to get a message like that from somebody means the absolute world to me because that is literally what it's all about. It's about, you know, helping other people, and if they can get something positive out of the music, then then happy days. That's that's my job done, if you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

I know, and I think what an inspiration you are to local people as well. Starting off locally in Cheltenham, going to these sort of music clubs, meeting your husband, and working your way through, connecting with what you really love, and now just performing on the stage and how much you've done because you've worked with some really wonderful people, haven't you, Kim? Share a little about that with us.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Yeah, well, I think it's just it's really important for me to work with really nice, like-minded people. You know, I mean, back in the day, we we've done it all, Mike and myself. You know, we'd done our apprenticeship in music because we were playing all the pubs and the clubs, you know, for years and years and years. We've done all of that. We've been in that point in our lives where we've taken every single gig we've been offered because we never wanted to say no to a gig. So we've been in situations that we didn't really want to be in, but we did it because we wouldn't say no to a gig. But I think now the point I'm at, it's all about working with incredible people, nice people, you know, that you can get on with, like-minded people who are all about the music. And so, yeah, I've worked with some really wonderful people and I have tried to celebrate other performers because I did actually do a big project called Brighter Tomorrow for the Arts, which came about after lockdown when all musicians were told to retrain, um, which kind of got my back up a little bit. So I went on a mission. I went on a mission to celebrate fellow creatives, and so I ended up working with a lot of wonderful people, people like Ray Gelato, Leanne Carroll, Ashley Slater, Antonia Forcioni. Um, I've just recorded with Simon Spillett. Um, it's been all about working, you know, with my fellow musicians. Um, and it's wonderful what what you get from from sharing the experience like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Yeah, I think collaboration, community, and connection, I mean, it's something that the digital world will never, ever, ever be able to replace. No, absolutely. And I think that's what's important. So you're playing at Cheltenham on the 4th of May, aren't you? Yes, I am. Tell tell us where we can find you and what that's a funky Latin set, I understand. So it's going to be an uplifting one.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

It is, yes. So, I mean, you'll find me around the festival for the entire duration of the festival because I will be I will be there. And I I've got various interviews lined up, and I'll be there handing out flyers for my gig and watching, you know, all the amazing bands that are there. But yes, you will you'll find me in the in the Fantastic Deia Arena on the Bank Holiday Monday at 6.30. So my band is closing the Deia Arena at the end of the festival. So I kind of figured it needed to be a lively, uplifting, celebratory performance, you know, almost a little bit like a bit of a Latin funky jazz party. And I'm gonna be flying over special guest Ashley Slater on the trombone, and he he used to work with Freak Power, Norman Cook. So uh he and he's he's a legend, it's absolutely brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

So it's one to watch out for. So we can find you at the jazz festival. And what else is coming out for you, Kim, that we can keep an eye out for if people want to see you anywhere else this year?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Well, they can keep an eye on my website, which is KimStipher.com, and obviously you can find me on all the socials because I I do have um some other festivals coming up. I have other jazz club performances coming up all over the place. I've got some new dates to announce as well, uh, and also some fantastic new music coming out as well through the next coming months. Can you give us a sneak peek on what sort of genre that might be? Well, I've written three tracks and they're all completely different. The first track actually is a blues track because I was asked to write it by the wonderful jazz FM DJ David Freeman. So he asked me if I would write a track for him, which was an amazing honour. So I've written a blues for him, and then I've written uh a Latin track and then a bit of a wild track, which features Simon Spillett on saxophone as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

That's exciting. I did read on your website actually that um I think it was David Freeman that said you were a rare musical treasure.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Oh, I know, I love him. Well, do you know it's wonderful because David Freeman has really supported me and really championed my music, and that means the absolute world, you know, to me. And so when he said, Would I write a piece of music for him, it was like yes, of course I will. The funny thing was he said he wanted, I asked him what he wanted. He said he wanted some honking and some some abuleant tenor blowing. So I don't know what that says about me, but obviously my style of music is honking.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Well, he knows that you can fit the brief, Kim. Thank you so much for sharing some time with me today. And it's what I've really taken away from it is that you know, if you're really passionate about something, you stay with that and you keep, you know, coming from this place inside that heart space and just sharing what you love, you can absolutely do anything, and it doesn't just fall in your lap, but it certainly will arrive there at some point.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Well, yeah, you've got to follow those dreams, but you've got to be prepared to put in the hard work, but never, never give up on those dreams ever.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

No, oh, thank you. So Kim Cypher will be at the Jazz Festival in May, and you can find out all about her on her website to follow her wonderful music right from her heart and much, much more. Kim, thank you so much for being with me.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Oh, Kelly, thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for inviting me along. Thank you. Thank you. Take care.