Danilo Rea

Danilo Rea was born in Vicenza, Italy, in August 1957. He discovered his passion for music at the very early age. Danilo took his first piano lesson before his sixth birthday, from where he started his extraordinary journey.
Danilo took his classical studies at Santa Cecilia Music Conservatory in Rome, where he graduated in 1978. Despite this, he realized soon that jazz was his true nature. Danilo made his debut in the jazz scene with the "Trio di Roma", with Roberto Gatto (drum) and Enzo Pietropaoli (doublebass) in 1975. Rea sought out opportunities to explore jazz and improvisation. He immersed himself in the vibrant jazz scene of Rome.
Danilo has shared the stage and worked in the recording studios with great musicians, such as Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Art Farmer, John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Mimmo Cafiero, Phil Woods, Curtis Fuller and Kenny Wheeler.
His eclecticism leads him to perform with some of the most important Italian pop music singers, such as Domenico Modugno, Mina, Pino Daniele, Riccardo Cocciante, Gianni Morandi, Claudio Baglioni, Fiorella Mannoia and many others, with each of whom he has produced long collaborations.
In 1997 Rea co-founded “Doctor 3” with Enzo Pietropaoli and Fabrizio Sferra, a project destined ante litteram to mark the trend in the jazz scenario to contaminate styles, inserting national and international popular covers into the repertoire and arranging them jazzistically. With their first album, Tales of Doctor 3 (Via Veneto Jazz 1998), the band make themselves pioneers of re-arranging pop and rock throughout a unique jazz-key improvisations, in order to prevent from altering drastically the original compositions.
Among his discography works Danilo has recorded the Solo album Lost in Europe (2000), which brings together the highlights of his European tour. In 2003 he recorded Lirico where opera and jazz were blended in his original improvisations. Then, Danilo undertook his inedited compositions in the albums Solo (2006) and Introverso (2008), Tribute To Fabrizio De Andre (2010). After that, his album Something in our way (Warner Music Italy) was released still in 2015, a new Piano Solo record inspired by the unforgettable repertoire of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. With the brilliant trumpeter Flavio Boltro, Danilo recorded Opera, released in 2011 and in 2015 Danilo co-started a quattro mani live project with Ramin Bahrami which became a record published by DECCA in 2017, entitled Bach Is In The Air.
The fascinating work with the popular Italian song-writer Gino Paoli stands out among his recent collaborations. Previously they have worked together on “Un incontro in Jazz” project and their artistic partnership continues with the albums and the live concerts Due come noi che… (2012), Napoli con amore (2013), and 3 (2017), all published by Parco della Musica Records.
Following his great success at the Umbria Jazz Tour in China in 2016, where he was invited to perform in the most prestigious theatres of Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Canton, Danilo Rea was awarded with the Leone D'Oro during the China Awards at the end of the same year.
In April 2018 his biography was published by Rai ERI, entitled Il Jazzista Imperfetto, written by Danilo Rea and Marco Videtta, which has given rise the eccentric Italian radio program directed by Luca Bernardini.
Throughout his latest live projects, in 2023 the duo piano/voice with the singer Fiorella Mannoia stands out; the tournee “Luce” has taken them to iconic venues across Italy creating an enchanting atmosphere that captivates their audiences; The music project becomes a record published by Sony just recently.
For ten years, Danilo has contributed to the voluntary commitment of The Music Donors Association, holding free concerts in Italian hospitals.
With his Piano Solo concerts and improvisations, Danilo ranges over any repertoire, conquering audiences all over the world. His concert activity continues prolifically with tours in Italy and abroad. In recent years he has also dedicated himself to teaching and master classes in jazz and improvisation techniques.