Submitted photo Canfield financial adviser Angelo Babbaro is performing a six-date concert tour of Brazil singing the songs of Frank Sinatra.

A local singer who’s made a career out of performing such songs as “Fly Me to the Moon” is getting ready for his longest flight ever.

Angelo Babbaro, a Canfield financial adviser by day who has performed the music of Frank Sinatra throughout the country, will leave next week for a six-date concert tour of theaters in Brazil.

“I pinch myself,” Babbaro said. “I never asked for this. I never dreamt of this. I just like to sing.”

The initial conversations started before the COVID-19 pandemic when a booking agent from Brazil reached out to him through his website.

“They were searching for a singer in my genre, the Sinatra style, big band,” Babbaro said. “I guess that’s really popular over there. There’s really no one in Brazil that stands out that does this. They told us that they searched the web for a good couple years. I don’t want to seem like a narcissist, but he told me, ‘You’re a diamond.’ He said ‘You are the best singer in this style on the planet.'”

The agent reached out again after COVID restrictions loosened, and Babbaro will play theater-sized venues backed by a 16-piece band of Brazilian musicians and doing two shows each in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Vitoria.

“We’re kind of spoiled here in the United States, because you and your wife could go to a party or a function and get a little taste of that any time,” he said. ” We American singers who sing what is called the American Songbook, right?

“But when you go to France, Brazil, Spain, it’s tough for a Spaniard to sing Sinatra, if that makes any sense. Just like me being Italian, I couldn’t go out and sing ‘Danny Boy.’ So if they want that style of music, they have to come here to the States if they want the true, authentic sound or bring it there.”

Outside of family vacations to Cancun, Mexico, Babbaro said he’s never left the country. He’s looking forward to experiencing the culture and food of Brazil as well as working with its musicians. He’s also excited by the future opportunities that could come from this initial tour.

“I think anytime an artist can go international, that says something,” Babbaro said. “That certainly will increase your appeal, not only here at home but also abroad. The booking agent told me, in his opinion, this is not a one-and-done. We’d like a long-term relationship, because they book other countries

“This singing thing over the last 10 or 12 years has really opened up doors for me. I have friends and contacts all over the United States.”

Since he booked a show at Stambaugh Auditorium in 2008, Babbaro guessed he’d performed shows in 38 states, playing clubs in Las Vegas and other major venues with top musicians.

Like many singers starting out, Babbaro would take any opportunity he could get to perform, but one of the best pieces of advice he got was from longtime local bandleader Carmen Mico.

“After working with him for maybe six or eight months, he sat me down. He says, ‘Alright, you got something here, kid. I’m going to teach you something.’ What’s that? He said, ‘If you want to be treated special, act special. If you are going to go out and sing to a machine in coffee shops, bars and parks to old people on lawn chairs for free, don’t expect people to buy a ticket to come see you at Stambaugh.’

“He was right. Why would they come see me at a venue and buy a ticket? So that was great advice.”