'AGT' veteran Sal Valentinetti brings 'little big band' sound to The Palace

Jan. 4—When "America's Got Talent" veteran Sal Valentinetti comes to Western Pennsylvania, he doesn't just come to perform.

He'll be crooning the classics at 8 p.m. Friday in The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, but, before then, he'll visit some favorite people and places, including Pittsburgh's Strip District and Dom's Pizzeria in Trafford.

"Let me tell ya, this guy Dom uses some of the best ingredients and makes really good pizza — and he's a sweetheart of a guy," Valentinetti said.

Valentinetti was a 2016 "AGT" finalist, who wowed the judges with his rendition of "My Way," earning the coveted Golden Buzzer from judge Heidi Klum.

Since then, he's been traveling the country, putting his signature sound to standards by artists including Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and — of course — Frank Sinatra.

Though it might seem odd for a 27-year-old to gravitate to music that was made decades before he was born, Valentinetti says it was inevitable.

As a preschooler, he spent afternoons with his grandmother while his parents worked.

After watching her soap operas, Valentinetti said, "She'd put on the radio or her little 8-track player — Sinatra, Jerry Vale, Vic Damone, Rosemary Clooney, Ella, all that stuff. We would dance to that music, and those were some of the happiest times of my life.

"When I was 11, I got an iPod, and my father said, 'Put on whatever music you like,' " he said. "I went on iTunes, and I loaded it up with that music because that's what I have to remember her by. I fell in love with it all over again."

Valentinetti said he discovered his singing voice by accident at about 15.

While taking lessons on the baritone horn, he told his teacher about a song he wanted to learn. It was Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," but he couldn't remember the name, so he sang the first couple of lines.

"He said, 'What? You sing?' And I said, 'No, I don't,' " Valentinetti said.

But a seed was planted. Valentinetti started singing for his family, and then an uncle got him a gig at a friend's restaurant.

"I was delivering pizzas, and I needed more walking-around money. I wasn't making what I felt I should have been making," he said. "I would get $100 to sing every Thursday night, and I thought I was Rockefeller. And I fell in love with it."

The same uncle persuaded Valentinetti to try out for "American Idol." He made it to the Hollywood audition round before being cut, but he caught the eye of "AGT" producers.

"They said they didn't know why I didn't make it further," he said. "They said, 'Come audition for us. You can do a lot better.'"

These days, Valentinetti said, his audiences include people who grew up listening to the crooner classics, along with younger people who know him from television.

At each show, he's backed by a group of area musicians. At The Palace, that will include saxophonist Clint Bleil, a Pittsburgh-based jazz composer and arranger who worked with Valentinetti on his album, "Little Valentine," which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the traditional pop album category.

"We do the standards, but not in the way you're used to hearing them," Valentinetti said. "They're mostly original arrangements that reflect what I like to hear as a fan of the music and as someone who sings it every weekend.

"There's a certain vibe, the little big-band vibe, that I like my show to have," he added. "A lot of the arrangements lend themselves to some really nice horn solos. They're carefully written to show off the brass section."

Even in the larger theaters, he said, the show has a club-like vibe.

"I'm talking to people, hanging out," he said. "We're gonna have a good time."

Tickets to Valentinetti's show at The Palace are $29-$59. A meet-and-greet with a photo opportunity is available for $50.

For information and reservations, call 724-836-8000 or visit thepalacetheatre.org.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .