Danilo Rea has made the piano his inner voice and improvisation his natural language.
Born in Vicenza and based in Rome, he graduated in Classical Piano from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, but from a very young age he chose the path of jazz and soon found himself sharing the stage with some of the giants of the international scene. His encounters with Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Johnny Griffin, John Scofield and John Patitucci, David Liebman, Bobby Hutcherson, Curtis Fuller, Bob Berg, Steve Grossman, Michael and Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, Albert Mangelsdorff, Dannie Richmond and many others were more than simple collaborations: they were experiences that helped shape a unique musical sensibility, balancing discipline and instinct.
He has always had a deep passion for the piano duo, which has led him to share the stage with masters such as Brad Mehldau, Danilo Pérez and Michel Camilo, creating intense musical dialogues and fascinating stylistic crossovers.
At the same time, Rea has developed a profound connection with the great Italian song tradition. He has worked with Mina on more than 15 albums, accompanying her with rare intensity. He has collaborated with Claudio Baglioni, Pino Daniele, Fiorella Mannoia, Rino Gaetano, Riccardo Cocciante, Fabio Concato, Gianni Morandi, Adriano Celentano and Gino Paoli, with whom he recorded three albums in a piano-and-voice duo and another as part of a quintet. With Fiorella Mannoia, he recorded a duo album and performed in numerous concerts, as he also did with Gino Paoli, with whom he developed an intense and poetic artistic partnership.
His artistic exploration extends beyond music: Danilo Rea is fascinated by the interaction between different art forms. He collaborates with actors, writers and screenwriters in performances that bring together words and sound, breath and thought. His stage partners have included Arnoldo Foà, Lella Costa, Valerio Mastandrea, Giorgio Albertazzi, Paola Cortellesi, Isa Danieli, Enrico Lo Verso, Fabrizio Gifuni, Sonia Bergamasco, Barbara Bovoli, Nino Manfredi and David Grossman. He has also composed film scores, collaborating with Carlo Verdone, Giuseppe Piccioni, Walter Veltroni and Umberto Contarello.
On television, he has performed alongside leading figures from the international worlds of music and cinema, including B.B. King, Tony Curtis, Cassandra Wilson, Sting, Dionne Warwick, Olivia Newton-John, Michael Bolton, Mireille Mathieu and Chaka Khan.
With Doctor 3, alongside Enzo Pietropaoli and Fabrizio Sferra, he has won the Musica Jazz magazine readers’ poll several times, receiving the awards for Best Group and Best Italian CD of the Year.
Through his solo piano projects, Lirico and Lost in Europe, Rea has opened a new chapter in solo piano performance: moving freely between opera arias and pop songs, he transforms collective memory into living sound, turning music into a shared story with those who listen.