Peter Cincotti

Cut from the same broad cloth of sensationalized wunderkind that once draped across the young shoulders of artists like Frank Sinatra, jazz crooner and pianist Peter Cincotti is an American idol for another age, when big bands ruled the earth and singers were handpicked, groomed and traded like all-stars. Yet even though Cincotti boasts maturity beyond his years, jazz is still a genre that constantly draws comparisons between its newcomers and its legends. It seems like we've seen this before. Wait -- that's right. It was 1989 and some handsome kid named Harry Connick Jr. But whereas Connick was drawn into a creative black hole shortly following his big break with the When Harry Met Sally soundtrack, Cincotti has unflinchingly dedicated himself to the bandstand. If he can maintain that focus, there may come a time when the next new kid on the block will be compared to him.