Peter Cincotti in Singapore

Irresistable Charm? Check.
Well-fitted Black suit? Check.
Velvety Voice? Check.
Jazz with a bit of Pop & Rock? Check.

Get ready to throw out your Michael Buble CDs for something… younger. Wearing a dark suit, Peter Cincotti sits behind a piano, crooning songs that pre-date him by more than a few decades. Names of jazz legends like Frank Sinatra pop to mind but this crooner has something up his sleeve – he brushes the dust off old jazz songs and pops in a fresh spin like the sizzle in lemonade.

I like Sway. I was in a music store, and my sister brought the sheet music over to me and said, ‘You should do this song.’ Dean Martin recorded it and Rosemary Clooney. But, I didn’t want to listen to other recordings of it. I wanted to treat it as a new song. I wanted to keep it as fresh as I could.”

Only 25, Peter Cincotti has already won the hearts of many and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts in 2002, being the youngest solo artist to ever do so. As part of the Singapore Sun Festival, Cincotti will be performing at the Esplanade Concert Hall on Oct 21 with songs from his latest album East of Angel Town.

There’s so many great songs out there, I think it’s a matter of, not picking the great songs, but it’s about picking the songs that I’m connected to. Like on the record I wanted to be sure that I was connected to each and every song on there. The last think I want to do is sing overdone songs.

Cincotti’s music may not be as familiar to the Singapore audience as Michael Buble or Jamie Cullum but he is definitely a face to watch if you like jazz. Playing the piano since the age of three, his debut album started with a compilation of traditional jazz songs. However, he evolved as a musician and infused his pop/rock influences into his latest album East of Angel Town that features original works.

In an interview with Seatwave, Cincotti mentioned that he grew up “constantly surrounded by music”. He added “My family went to see shows and rock concerts in Madison Square, Jazz clubs and Broadway shows. There was such a diverse music scene there so that was great. It was a very important part of my upbringing.” Perhaps that is why Cincotti’s music is fresh to the ears! The fuse of pop and jazz is not garish enough to make jazz aficionados to curse nor too traditional for younger audiences.

Cincotti also named a Celine Dion the most memorable gig that he has been to. “The opener was just so powerful. She did that song, I Am Your Lady, the whole place was just…it was just so powerful. Yeah, so I started weeping like a school girl.”

We’re sure that Cincotti’s concert will open just as powerfully.

Peter Cincotti – Of Pop, Rock, Blues and Jazz
Date: October 21 2008, Tuesday
Time: 7.30pm
Duration: 90mins, no intermission
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall
Tickets: $48, $68, $88, $108*, $128*
Concessions are available for students, NSF and senior citizens.

Peter Cincotti – Of Pop, Rock, Blues and Jazz is part of the Singapore Sun Festival.
For more information on the Singapore Sun Festival, please visit their website.

Listen to Peter CIncotti’s East of Angel Town