Drums, percussion.
He started early his activity and soon he becomes famous as a drummer, collaborating with all the best Italian jazz musicians.
In 1980 he went to the United States for a specialization course at the “Berkley School of Music” in Boston, doing a series of concerts with local musicians with full marks.

Back in Italy he got a diploma of “Percussions at the Conservatoire of Music “A.Casella” of L’Aquila. He started in this way an activity as a classic contemporary percussionist: now he is already a percussionist and he recorded as a drummer and tympanist (kettledrummer) three movies of Roberto Benigni’s: “Il Piccolo Diavolo”, “Johnny Stecchino” and “Il Mostro”.

As a drummer he took part in numerous TV and radio programmes by RAI and MEDIASET, both in a orchestra and as a soloist, he recorded about 40 among CDs and LPs, he took part in more then one hundred jazz festivals, both national and international ones.

He played with about 60 great American jazzmen who were in Italy for a while.We can remember: Chet Baker, lee Konitz, Barney Kessel, Don Cherry, Lou Bennet, Gary Bartz, Bobby Watson, Roland Hanna, Christian Escoudè, Jack Walrath, Sal Nistico, Steve Grossman, Art Farmer, Johnny Griffin, Ray Briant, Curtis Fuller, Kay Winding. He has been the pianist Mike Melillo’s drummer, with whom he recorded four LPs and CDs, one of them with Chet Becker. He recorded with Steve Grossman & Gary Smoulyan too.

As a drummer in the field of classic music Giampaolo Ascolese has been collaborating since 1995 with Giorgio Zagnoni, a world-famous flautist, with whom he played at the Carnegie Hall of New York. Giampaolo Ascolese did a lot of tours abroad in Switzerland, France, Germany, United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Spain, Poland, England, Argentina. In the field of light music he played with: Francesco De Gregori, Nini Rosso, Renzo Arbore, Gino Paoli, Nicola Arigliano, Sergio Endrigo. With Nicola Arigliano he won in 1996 the “Premio Tenco 1996”. Giampaolo Ascolese is also a teacher at the “St.Louis Jazz Academy” of Rome and at the cultural association “Discanto” in Bracciano.

Giampaolo Ascolese wrote also two methods of drums published by “Settlicavio” of Salerno and he has a famous teaching survey on the national monthly “Percussion” magazine.

In 2000 he gets the National Degree in Jazz Music at the Conservatory of Frosinone, with M° Gerardo Jacoucci.