Peter Cincotti

Twenty-year-old Peter Cincotti is part of the new crop of talented young crooners following in the footsteps of Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, and Cincotti plays piano, too. With Nat King Cole as one of his big influences, Cincotti does a very fine version of Cole’s “You Stepped Out of a Dream” on his self-titled CD. Another influence is the late piano great Erroll Garner. Cincotti’s instrumental treatment, done in Garner style, with a heavy left hand, of Blood, Sweat and Tears’ “Spinning Wheel” is quite entertaining. Cincotti also plays, to nice effect, an instrumental version of The Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill” as an intro to jazz standard “Nature Boy.” There are also three original tunes on this disc. My favorite is the witty “I Changed the Rules,” a love song of sorts with wonderful lyrics by his mother and lyricist, Cynthia Cincotti.