Davide Sampaolo, Rome

DAVIDE SAMPAOLO, percussionist, was born into a musical family in Italy and studied piano, classical guitar and drums from a young age. He studied percussion at the “Scuola popolare di Musica di Testaccio” and Afro-Cuban drums (Conga, Timbal, Bongò) at TIMBA drum school in Rome with Roberto “Mamey” Evangelisti, Paulo La Rosa, Valter Paiola, Gabriele Gagliarini and with prominent figures who were often in the school such as Reinaldo Hernandez Ramirez (El Goyo Jr.) and Irian Lopez Rodriguez (Los Chinitos). He became steeped in Cuban folklore, the Rumba, the Son, Salsa and Latin Jazz. His travels brought him to Spain to study the flamenco percussion in Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Malaga, Barcelona and eventually Madrid to learn more about the modern Cajon Flamenco with the great maestros José Ruiz “Bandolero”, Rafael Jimenez “el Chispas” and José Antonio Montaña.