Vinny Valentino is a Grammy-nominated guitarist and composer, continuing to redefine musical genres and break melody barriers to audiences worldwide. Blending the eternal elements of blues and jazz music since his international debut album (The Distance Between Two Lines), he is consciously expanding on the confines of his instrument and the compositions and recordings that stems from it. The Distance Between Two Lines also rocketed up the charts to number two and held its own on the national charts for fourteen weeks.
Setting himself apart from all others in his lane, Vinny has been playing the guitar since age six. Hailing from the Washington DC area, he began touring as part of a progressive rock band when he was still in high school. It was at age sixteen that Vinny made the conscious decision to pursue a career in Jazz; influenced by the likes of George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, Bill Evans and Nat King Cole.
Studying Jazz at Howard University, he earned his bachelor’s and soon after released his first solo recording. In present day, Vinny now has twelve recordings with his mark on them and has appeared with his band on BET’s, “Bet on Jazz”; a one-hour feature program that quickly became one of the top five requested programs on BET.
Embracing the fact that he was one of the first musicians to perform live on the internet, Vinny continues to pioneer the digital world by offering online clinics, performance opportunities and lessons at www.vinny.com. A significant part of this journey of innovation into the online space is Vinny’s “Play Along Tunes” initiative (www.playalongtunes.com). With this program and site launch in 2008, Vinny gave aspiring musicians the opportunity to download various tracks that omit the instrument they play; it’s an interactive jam session without coordinating all of the other musicians and space all the while being surrounded by the world top bandmates.
Vinny’s compositions have been recorded by Steve Smith and Vital Information, John Benitez, George Benson, Sunny Sumter and Steve Haas and are featured in the best-selling Jazz book, “All Jazz Real Book.” The National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts have recognized Vinny’s talents as composer, arranger, and recording artist with a grant for a series of works entitled “New Music for Three Guitars”. Participating in multiple world tours including tours to Russia, Asia, Central and South America, Vinny has been an integral part of keeping music alive and expanding its reach through every border and barrier.
In addition to his personal accolades as a musician, he’s been producing and editing Greetings from America shows since 2005, honing skills in graphic design and web development and is even a private pilot in whatever free time he has. Vinny Valentino is a one-of-a-kind musician who is always striving to learn. Music never stops evolving, so why should he?
