The Danilo Rea - Roberto Gatto Trio, featuring Joseph Lepore, brings a combination of authentic Italian opera arias, fused with jazz, as well as music Americana, like Bacharach and Lennon, and original jazz interpretations of popular Italian songs. Danilo Rea and Roberto Gatto have been favorably reviewed in this magazine before, both in recordings and in performance. They are renowned for their involvement with Umbria Jazz Festivals, as well as concerts at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York.

For tonight's "Upstarts!" set at Dizzy's Club, Coca-Cola, the Trio quickly switched moods from Danilo Rea's raindrop-like piano melody ("Senza Fine") to straight, percussive jazz. Roberto Gatto's drums went into a clavé, bossa nova beat, and the music became exotic and mysterious, abstract on the heels of harmony, before it returned to a pulsating swing. The set included "Senza Fine" (by Gino Paoli), "Honey Pie" (by Lennon-McCartney), "Close to You" (by Burt Bacharach), and "Adagio" (from "La Cavalleria Rusticana" by Pietro Mascagni). "Honey Pie" featured a generous bass solo by Joseph Lepore, merging with Rea on piano, with Gatto's barest hint of metal and dramatic drum rolls. In "Close to You", Rea took an extended keyboard riff, a rambunctious and rapid swing.

Rea followed this upbeat song with a meandering, melancholy theme, backed with Lepore's persuasive bass rhythm and Gatto's cymbal-brush effect. Repetitive melodies merged through Rea's Steinway, against a backdrop of bass-drum reverie. Danilo Rea sped up and down the keyboard with scintillating scales. Check the Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola Website for future dates and artists.