Peter Cincotti‘Killer on the Keys’ (Freddy Eggs Records, LLC)Peter Cincotti had to work twice as hard as usual last night because at least half of the Cafe Carlyle crowd — those of us who live on the West Side — was in an unusually grumpy mood. At the time, President Biden’s motorcade was moving up Fifth Avenue (presumably on his way to Spanish Harlem for some tortillas after addressing the UN General Assembly) and the whole middle of the island was blocked off. There was no way to get across town other than walking across Central Park — some of us in dress shoes and formal suits, others in even less-suitable four-inch heels. Well, we reasoned, the least we can do is endure a little discomfort for the sake of democracy in action.A 39-year-old pianist-singer-songwriter, Mr. Cincotti is enjoying his first actual run at the storied venue — coincidentally, a New York stopping point for JFK and other presidents. He is also about to release “Killer on the Keys,” his first album since 2017’s “Long Way From Home.” More importantly, the new release is his first to include jazz and standards since his two earliest albums, “Peter Cincotti” (2003) and “On the Moon” (2004), produced by the late Phil Ramone.Mr. Cincotti first attracted our attention as a 17-year-old jazz prodigy for both his singing and especially his playing — he was probably the youngest artist ever to headline at the legendary Oak Room at the Algonquin. Even then, he was already writing original music, and never presented himself as a purist who was determined to remain in the jazz lane. For most of the last 15 years, he has concentrated on writing his own contemporary pop-style songs, as heard on albums like “East of Angeltown” (2007) and “Metropolis” (2012).At first glance, the new album signifies another shift in Mr. Cincotti’s career and music, but on closer inspection it seems like he’s consolidating two decades’ worth of experience as a headliner. He opens with an original title song “Killer on the Keys,” which establishes his goals for the project: to salute the iconic masters in a variety of genres — as he sings it, “mixing blues and Bach with jazz and rock.” In this worldview, the piano itself is the focus, and it’s bigger than any one category of music.The first three tracks tell us clearly what it’s all about. The opener is an original song that joyfully acknowledges the inspiration of a keyboard icon — the “killer” himself, Jerry Lee Lewis. This is followed by a funked up version of a jazz standard, “Sweet Lorraine,” delivered with a heavy backbeat. Next comes a jazz version of a contemporary pop anthem — what the late Mel Torme described as “the RRP, or relatively recent past” — namely Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” That’s the general trajectory of both the album and the show: funky versions of jazz standards and swingy versions of pop tunes, interspersed with originals that draw on both traditions.Mr. Cincotti has found a highly copacetic middle ground between jazz and pop in what we could call soul jazz keyboard style, the kind we associate with Les McCann, Gene Harris, and the recently departed Ramsey Lewis. It worked especially well at the Carlyle, where he was assisted by a hard-driving quartet featuring tenor saxophonist Scott Kreitzer, bassist Marty Jaffe, drummer Joe Nero, and Tony Glausi, more usually a trumpeter but this week playing a second (and electric) keyboard. The album is very tightly produced; the tracks are much busier, and there’s a lot going on in the backgrounds, extra sounds both electronic and acoustic. The live performances are more free flowing and organically swinging — so much so that I wish he would commission a video or audio of the entire Carlye show and put it up on YouTube. Mr. Cincotti is a strongly dynamic entertainer, who propels a 75-minute show forward with amazing charisma and energy, not to mention sheer chops. While a lot of that does translate into the studio tracks, the club performance is nonetheless better still.“Poker Face” is particularly effective: He makes the words and the music seem much more appealing than the composer ever achieved with her dense, multilayered digital concoctions. The Carlyle show also includes plenty of Cincotti standbys: his familiar opener, “Raise the Roof” (from “The Wild Party”), and closer, Peggy Lee’s “I Love Being Here With You,” and his stylish transmutation of “Sway” from a Cuban dance number to something more like Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66.It was a terrific and exciting set that made all of us feel considerably better when we were leaving than when we walked in. I was only disappointed that the president and first lady couldn’t make time to stop by. Their loss.
