Peter Cincotti Explores Different Beat on 'East Of Angel Town'

By Doug Levine
Washington
06 April 2009

Peter Cincotti

When jazz singer Peter Cincotti made his recording debut six years ago, he was hailed as a budding young Frank Sinatra. His bluesy piano style even drew comparisons to the great Errol Garner. But an older, wiser Cincotti explores a different beat on his first-ever album of all-original songs, East Of Angel Town.

The jazzman turns "power" rocker on "UBU" [You Be You].

New York native Peter Cincotti has come a long way since his introduction to music on a toy piano given to him by his grandmother. Jazz seemed a natural direction for Peter, who at age 12, shared the stage with another young virtuoso, Harry Connick, Junior. Peter's early musical heroes were jazz pianists Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock, and for vocal music, he immersed himself in the Great American Songbook.

Not to be overlooked are Peter's refined composing skills.

Peter taps into his songwriting expertise with a range of everyday topics, from the passing of time on "The Country Life," to heartbreak in midtown Manhattan on this piece titled "Cinderella Beautiful."

At 25, Peter Cincotti has become a first-rate storyteller with a keen knack for detail. He says, "I wanted each song to come alive in the studio with the same freshness they had when they were first written."

Meanwhile, Peter is taking his new rock image in stride, opening for pop singer Seal on a coast-to-coast tour of the U.S.