GIG REVIEW: Peter Cincotti
- Posted on October 25, 2007 2:24 PM
- 0 comments
Peter Cincotti
Cafe De Paris
24th October 2007
Review by Bob Meijer
The name Peter Cincotti was not really one that I had ever heard of before, maybe because I am a typical Amsterdam city boy and he had never played there, or even released an album with success. So when I got the opportunity to see this guy I really had an open mind. I didn’t really want to go there unprepared and so I had a quick look on his website what this guy was all about. At first glance he seemed to have his stuff sorted, gig at Café de Paris, relaxed jazzy tunes; seems like a nice enough bloke to me. A relaxed night out on Leicester Square listening to some Jazz and have a drink, that’s not too shabby for my fancy you know.
So when I arrived at Café de Paris I went straight to the bar, got me a drink that felt suitable for the night and found me a great hiding place in the crowd. At the exact time that I am ready Peter Cincotti walks on stage and people give him the welcome he’d like I’m sure. Great timing. He starts his first tune and for 2 minutes all I can stare at his the guitar of the bass player, which is an impressive 8 string (if I counted correctly) bass guitar, and being the guitar freak that I am I can’t help but wondering why he only uses 3 strings.
I remind myself to pay attention to the music and Peter Cincotti, who isn’t half decent lit, they properly wanted to spotlight this fella for a reason, and I think I know why. You see, Peter is really a model playing the piano, quite well I must say, or perhaps is the other way around. Either way, he has got his stuff sorted, that’s for sure. Great band, great voice, great looks (some random girl tells me) but I can’t help but thinking ‘alright, get on with it’. I wonder why.
I find myself discussing this particular issue with my mate who came along with me, and we agreed that this guy really has all you need to become the next Jamie Cullum or John Mayer, although there is something missing that is quite pivotal: catchy tunes. You see John Mayer is not only a pop star with catchy pop tunes that make girls scream, he is also a gifted blues guitarist who can measure himself with greats such as Clapton, Bonamassa and BB King. Jamie Cullum is not only a poppy piano player who covers old hit records; he knows how to play the piano and knows how to do it well enough to earn the respect of the Jazz community.
Peter Cincotti can definitely play; I reckon he would fit in well in any smoky (cigarette!) Jazz bar in Amsterdam. His band is brilliant as well and seems to know perfectly how to make Peter sound better, no problems there. It’s the tunes for me. The tunes just sounded to me like templates; great sounding pieces of music that just need that chord progression that gives you the goose bumps (‘Imagine’ to randomly name an extreme) or that vocal line that just seems weird but even though you can’t figure out what’s off you can’t forget it. The morning after Peter’s gig I couldn’t remember one song, I did remember his stories behind the songs, but the actual tunes didn’t settle. Maybe they did for the others there, but they didn’t for me or my mate.
When I read some more about Peter’s music I think I know why they didn’t stick though: it turned out he had written all these tunes since his last albums had a lot of covers on them, they were really popular. So this time he decided to write more himself, but most record companies didn’t quite get his own stuff. They wanted to get some great writers in for him and then they would jump on board, they said. One record company did believe in his own songs and gave him the opportunity to record his own songs exclusively though, so that’s what happened. Makes sense. I think I’m with the other record companies though, this guy could be big with good songs- but then again I could be wrong. Remember what happened to the Beatles and Decca records in 1962?
Check out our interview with Peter Cincotti
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