Italian singing sensation Mario Biondi gave a thrilling performance at the Carnivore restaurant on Tuesday night. The famed 6-foot plus jazz-soul vocalist wowed the guests with his rich baritone that can only be compared with that of legends like Barry White, Issac Hayes and Lou Rawls.

Performing to a capacity crowd, he opened his show with his hit song from his debut album Handful of soul. It was no wonder that in 1988, he was the supporting act for Ray Charles's Italian tour.

Jazz saxophonist Chris Bittok was the perfect curtain-raiser and he set the tempo for Biondi. He gave the audience two sneak previews of original compositions set to feature on his soon to be released album.

The Italian community led by the ambassador Paola Imperiale and her deputy Alberto La Bella, came out in large numbers to support one of their own. They were also joined by jazz fans and enthusiasts.