A Morgantown audience will have the opportunity to experience an evening of Peter Cincottis seductive jazz in the intimate atmosphere of the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1.
The New York Times calls the 21-year-old jazz whiz kid and croonerone of the most promising singer-pianists of the next generation.Despite his young age, Cincotti has mastered the work of legends like Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie and Solomon Burke and mesmerized listeners with originals that confer a sense of deep romantic longing well beyond his years.
His latest album,On The Moon,aptly serves as a comment on the bounding artistic growth and career trajectory of this young man the Times says isprodigiously talentedand aproud pop-jazz throwback.
CincottisOn The Moonis the follow-up to his acclaimed 2003 self-titled debut, but it is only one accomplishment on an already packed list. By age seven, he was performing with his mentor, singer-pianist Harry Connick, Jr. While Cincotti was still in high school, he gigged regularly at top clubs throughout Manhattan, starred in the off-Broadway hitOur Sinatra,studied with renowned jazz masters such as David Finck and James Williams, and performed at the White House. In 2000, he won an award at the Montreux Jazz Fest for a hard-swinging rendition of Dizzy GillespiesA Night in Tunisia.
In 2001, Cincotti became the youngest artist ever to play the storied Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel. He reached No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts in 2003 and instantly made history by becoming the youngest solo artist to do so. The same year, Cincotti opened for his hero Ray Charles at several performances, and in 2004 he was named Best New Star by Swing Journal magazine. Cincotti also performed on an episode of ABC s reality showThe Bachelorettein January of this year.
Cincotti did all this in the time-honored tradition of piano men from NatKingCole to Billy Joel.
Born in New York City, he started tinkling the keys of a toy piano when he was only three years old and was taking lessons a year later.
The first music that really hit me was Jerry Lee Lewis. I loved boogie-woogie piano playing when I was about five years old,he said.But I was always exposed to all kinds of music. Being born and raised in Manhattan, there was so much around. My sister and I were taken to hear everything from rock concerts at Madison Square Garden to jazz clubs to Broadway shows. I always went through different musical phases through the years and had many influences. I am still experiencing this development which I hope continues for the rest of my life.
Whether its the seductiveThe Girl For Me Tonight,the lovelorn confessionId Rather Be With Youor the heartfelt balladHes Watching,Cincotti has learned to say what he wants to say with eloquence and heart and an intimate, warm feel.
Having already accomplished so much in the music world, however, isnt enough for Cincotti. He recently acted in a feature role as Bobby Darins best friend and arranger
Dick Behrke in Kevin Spaceys musical biography of Darin,Beyond the Sea.He also has become one of three featured models for designer Ermenegildo Zegnas spring fashion campaign which will appear in publications such as Vanity Fair, Esquire and The New Yorker.
Tickets to Cincottis April 1 performance are on sale now at the Mountainlair and Creative Arts Center Box Offices, at http://www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 293-SHOW. Prices are $30 for the general public and $20 for WVU students with valid WVU student ID and groups of 20 or more.
This performance is part of the 2004-2005 University Arts Series, a production of WVU Arts&Entertainment. For more information visit WVU Arts&Entertainment online athttp://www.events.wvu.eduor call 293-SHOW.