Giancarlo was born in Messina but has been living in Catania since 2005. He began his musical activity as a composer and director of theatre music. In 1983 along with Giovanni Sollima he founded the group Carabo. Their catologue of original music saw them win Musicians Sicialian Jazz (Messina '83) which led them to participate in the Jazz Festivals Jazz of Pori (Finland '84) and the Leverkusen Jazz Festival (Germany '84). He moved in 1986 to Milan, to teach the saxophone at the Centro Professione Musica and at the same time became part of the Premiata Forneria Marconi; one of its pieces "Independent '90" went on to win the music section of Giapo World Dance.

He has collaborated on stage and in the studio with a host of Italian musicians such as Eugene Finardi, Gang, My Martini, Pierangelo Bertoli, Fiorella Mannoia and Mauro Pagani. From '91 to '98 he collaborated with Fabrizio De Andre - on the tours Le Nuvole (1991), Fabrizio de Andre in Teatro (1992), Fabrizio de Andre in Tour (1998) and on the live CD "Concerts 91".

In 1992 he released his first solo album "L'Otre Di Eolo", followed in '93 by "Giancarlo Parisi". In 1997 he participated in and won the Folkcontest di Casale Monferrato and went on to participate in the same year in the Festival Interceltique di Lorient (Brittany). In 1998 he joined ranks with The Chieftains, with whom he performed as soloist along with l'Orchestra del Tetro Massimo di Palermo in the Teatro di Verdura and went on to record on the album Natale a Roma released by BMG.

He has performed with his group Asteriskos, of which he is composer of all the music, at numerous festival, both national and international, among them WOMAD in Palermo and Il Giardino Della Musica in Milan and released the CDs "Amanca Luna" and "Asino Siculo", as well as having numerous tracks included on international compilations. In 2003 he collaborated with the drummer Stewart Copland (The Police), the arranger Vittorio Cosma and the English percussion quartet Ensemble Bash for the production of the show "La notte della taranta by Melpignano" and the subsequent CD. In the same year he worked on the album and live show "Il Silenzio e lo Spirito" with Eugene Finardi, V. Cosma and S. Porciello.

He has developed and patented a "chromatic" model of the zampogna so that, like the ancient diatonica, this fairly inaccessible instrument is now opened up to previously unthinkable musical languages and possibilities.