Moving to Rome as a child, he earned his piano diploma at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, making his debut in jazz music in 1975 with Enzo Pietropaoli and Roberto Gatto, forming the Rome Trio.
At the same time as jazz, he developed particular interest in progressive music and participated in the formation of the group New Perigeo, of which double bassist Giovanni Tommaso is the leader and founder. New Perigeo embarked on a long tour (seventy-two concerts in seventy days), together with Rino Gaetano and Riccardo Cocciante, of which the album entitled Q Concert remains a recorded record.
He worked his way up in jazz circles to the point of playing with some of the greatest U.S. soloists, such as Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, John Scofield, Joe Lovano, and Art Farmer. In 1989 he participated in Roberto De Simone’s work Requiem per Pier Paolo Pasolini, performed at the San Carlo theater in Naples under the baton of Zoltán Peskó; in the same year he published, together with Roberto Gatto, the album Improvvisi.
In 1991 he participated in Pino Daniele’s album “Un uomo in Blues” where American musicians such as Mick Goodrick, Harvie Swartz and Gary Shaffee played.
In 1997 he created, with double bassist Enzo Pietropaoli and drummer Fabrizio Sferra, Doctor 3, a trio that has been treading the most important stages of Italian jazz for a decade. His record The Tales of Doctor 3 was named best Italian jazz record in 1998, while his next work, The songs remain the same, won Best Jazz Record from Musica&Dischi in 1999.
In Italy, his collaborations in the pop sphere are numerous, as a trusted pianist for artists such as Mina, Claudio Baglioni, and Pino Daniele, and as an occasional collaborator with Domenico Modugno, Fiorella Mannoia, Riccardo Cocciante, Renato Zero, Gianni Morandi, and Adriano Celentano, among others.
In 2001 she participated in the making of Mina in Studio, the documentary in which Mina reappeared on video after many years of absence. In 2006 he took part in the Concert for Europe, on the island of Ventotene, which featured him along with Baglioni, Nicola Piovani and Luis Bacalov.
In the 2007-2008 season he participated in the show Uomini in frac together with other musicians, such as Peppe Servillo, Fausto Mesolella, Mimì Ciaramella of Avion Travel, Fabrizio Bosso, Furio Di Castri, Javier Girotto, Gianluca Petrella and Cristiano Calcagnile. The show was set up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Nel blu dipinto di blu and, for the occasion, the group performs some of Domenico Modugno’s songs.
His improvisations, which range over any repertoire, are appreciated during the concerts he gives on world tours and at major jazz festivals.
In 2009 he was one of 70 guest artists on Baglioni’s double CD, Q.P.G.A., where Rea plays piano on the song “Centocelle.” In 2010 he created the music for the show “Commedia” by and with Giorgio Barberio Corsetti. The videos are by Cristian Taraborrelli.
On June 15, 2011, together with Paolo Damiani and Rashmi V. Bahtt, he improvised a memorable concert on the rooftops of Rome at dusk. The entire proceeds were donated to Emergency, Gino Strada’s non-profit organization.
PROJECTS
THE GRAND OPERA IN JAZZ – DANILO REA AND THE SINGING STARS
La Grande Opera in Jazz is a tribute by one of Europe’s greatest pianists, Danilo Rea, to the Italian composers who made melodrama famous throughout the world and to the extraordinary singing stars, such as Maria Callas, Beniamino Gigli, and Caruso, who interpreted its never-to-be-forgotten arias. This is a performance that offers an unprecedented musical journey, in which the notes of the piano join in an artistic narrative of great cultural and poetic impact, through the world-famous arias of the great Italian composers, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, Bellini and Donizetti. A visual and sound show, enriched by the projection of videos with historical archive images, recorded in black and white, along with evocative and original works of contemporary art. Danilo Rea’s masterful interpretation enhances the artistic value of the voices taken from the historical recordings, starting in 1910, the unpublished video images, in a harmonious contextualization between melodies and musical improvisation. A new cultural and emotional experience, which drawing strong inspirations from the most beloved arias, transports spectators into a dimension of lively artistic participation, allowing them to grasp interest of the general public, and not only of Opera lovers by relaunching, in a contemporary key, the still relevant value of Italian melodrama.
The project is produced by Globart, Saint Louis College of Music, in collaboration with Mercurio Management.
PRESS
