SGN Page 25

Peter Cincotti and Bebel Gilberto steam up the Moore with hot jazz

Peter Cincotti and Bebel Gilberto steam up the Moore with hot jazz
by Lorelei Quenzer - SGN A&E Writer Peter Cincotti and Bebel Gilberto June 10 @ Moore Theatre Friday was a cool night to sample le jazz hot from two rising stars, Bebel Gilberto and Peter Cincotti. They performed at the Moore to an almost full theater and left the audience calling for encores. We were a little restless as we waited for headliner Peter Cincotti, but I knew we were in for a treat when the Steinway was rolled up to the front of the stage during the intermission. With very little fanfare, Cincotti and his backing trio (Barak Mori on bass, Mark McLean on drums and Scott Kreitzer on tenor sax) launched into my favorite song from his latest CD. Has someone been monitoring my walkman? Because I absolutely love his version of the Cole Porter classic, I Love Paris. Between his slightly gravelly vocals and his rocking piano riffs, Cincotti had the near capacity crowd in the palm of his hands. It looked like it might be an evening full of standards no complaints here as he continued with more classics, soaring from Some Kind of Wonderful to a surprising, Latin take on Rogers and Hammersteins Bali Hai. Harry Connick, Jr. and, more recently, Michael Bublé have managed to cross the genre barrier from jazz to pop. Its been clear from Cincottis first two CDs, Peter Cincotti and On The Moon, that he has the chops. And if you were lucky enough to be in the audience last Friday night, you know what I know: Peter Cincotti is the next name to add to your pop lexicon. Between charming the audience with anecdotes about his recent foray into collaborative song writing in Nashville and regaling us with piano solos in deft syncopation like Sway, its difficult to remember that Cincotti is only 21 years old. His stage presence is much more mature than his age would lead you to think, and his musical style blends blues, funk and jazz with old standards, making it seem effortless. A few of his original songs remind us, however, that hes still a youngn. Both his youth and his admiration of Billy Joel are apparent in a song like Make It Out Alive, where he tries on the persona of a dangerous thug making a jail break. It almost works except that I couldnt believe the fresh-faced Cincotti as a knife-wielding murderer. Give him his props: he sure worked up a sweat trying to sell it. Im Always Watching You and Come Tomorrow, also original compositions, fared better and were more believable. Witchs Brew, a debut composition played that evening I wrote it three days ago! Cincotti shared with glee was also his best, focusing on his piano style and vocal range. Cincotti gave members of his trio some spotlight time during St. Louis Blues, and one of the more memorable moments came when some palooka from the audience yelled out during the drum solo, Is that all ya got? Cincotti grinned while McLean started to beat away in earnest, earning raucous appreciation from the floor. They exited for a while, returning to the stage for an encore another Cincotti original, On Stage Tonight. Be warned: Cincottis popularity is on the verge of spilling over from adult contemporary into the teen/pop market, and the next time hes in town youll need to buy your tickets early if you want to get in. As the opening act, Brazilian siren Bebel Gilberto entranced the crowd with her silky sambas and cool Latin rhythms. She entered and took hold of the microphone and commanded the stage. Gilberto performed songs from her most recent self-titled CD and her debut album, Tanto Tempo. Her live performance had a mesmerizing quality; the sensation of listening to lyrics in a foreign language combined with some synthesized drumbeats had a trance-like effect. While it was much more pleasant to hear Gilbertos heavily-accented English, she playfully traded comments from the audience in what Ill call pseudoguese, (unsuccessful attempts at Portuguese). After nine songs and a mere hour, she left all of us wanting more. Can a solo show at Jazz Alley be far behind? I can only hope well see Bebel Gilberto back soon.