Roberto Nápoles Castillo

Nápoles, who at 99 years of age was considered Cuba's longest-lived musician, the so-called King of the Double Bass, passed away when he was only four months short of turning 100 years old.

The man of renowned orchestras and groups, natural promoter of Cuban popular music or as many knew him "The Dancing Double Bass" for his characteristic way of playing it, said a final goodbye on January 2, 2011 in Santiago de Cuba.

Nápoles Castillo, the "King of the Double Bass," would have turned 100 on the coming April 29 and almost until the end he was the country's most long-lived active musician, and perhaps the world's, according to what the Cuban Institute of Music affirmed.

The celebrated artist from Santiago, in addition to his long musical career, awakened everyone's admiration because with almost a century on his shoulders, he still carried his double bass and made it dance with him during his appearances with the Estudiantina Invasora, the last of the groups in which he served and of which he was an honorary member by right.

Nápoles was admirable not only for his consistency as an instrumentalist and artistic achievement, but also for the exemplary and communicative character with which he fascinated half the world, and especially his neighbors, on René Ramos Latour avenue in the Santiago neighborhood of Los Hoyos.

At just 10 years old, the boy from Los Hoyos was part of a children's comparsa in the world-famous Santiago Carnival as a bocú drum player. Two years later he is the timpani player in a Student Orchestra of that time, recognized musicologist Maritza Puig Macías.

Thus Nápoles began his journey in the art from which he never strayed until the final moment, until becoming an essential figure of traditional music in Santiago de Cuba where in 1923, at just 12 years old, he organized the Sexteto Tropical, a group he directed and in which he sang accompanied by his guitar.

Four years later, together with other enthusiasts like him, he founded the still active Estudiantina Invasora Orchestra, and in 1931 his voice adorns the sound of the renowned Orquesta de Mariano Mercerón, with which he undertakes his first national tour of Cuba and performs at the National Theater in Havana.

In Santiago de Cuba, together with the unforgettable Electo Rosell "Chepín," he is one of the creators of the eternally popular Orquesta de Chepín-Chovén.

According to Nápoles' account, it is Chepín himself, a musician of superior caliber, who suggests he take on the responsibility of the double bass, an instrument he learned until he mastered it to his liking and along with the knowledge he acquired in music theory, he also shines as a vocalist and bass player. Thus also, during his long professional career, his technical ability allowed him to help other groups with a similar format to the Estudiantina Invasora.

Nápoles also never separated himself from the guitar or from the neighborhoods, balconies and window sills of Santiago de Cuba; places that knew of the serenades in which he was one of the protagonists.

After Chepín's orchestra came that of Daniel Vistel and then la Ilusión, work that greatly expanded Roberto's musical repertoire. This mastery made it easy for him to be one of the most sought-after accompanists in Santiago de Cuba, which is why he was chosen to work with Dámaso Pérez Prado, when the king of mambo visited this city.

Nápoles' abilities as a musician allowed him to share his art with Isolina Carrillo, Blanquita Amaro, Boby Capó, Orlando Contreras, Miguel Ángel Ortiz... and when in 1972 the late Revolutionary Commander Juan Almeida Bosque encouraged the rescue of the Chepín-Chovén, starting from the founders that existed, there was Roberto Nápoles Castillo, once again with his double bass, until 1985, when retired, but not withdrawn from music, he again joined in 1986 his beloved Estudiantina Invasora.

The musician from the Los Hoyos neighborhood liked to share memories when someone visited him at his home on René Ramos Latour avenue. And logically, music and anecdotes were never lacking in those encounters, in keeping with the entrepreneurial character of the most celebrated double bass player that Santiago de Cuba has ever had. As a composer, art also opened doors for him. Many of his works served as the foundation for the success of various groups in past and more recent decades.

Nápoles continued holding on to his double bass, his friendships, and that innate work of transmitting knowledge to new generations of musicians, to the Los Hoyos neighborhood and to Santiago de Cuba, which is why his signature appears in creations recorded at the then RCA-Víctor and later in the Siboney studios of EGREM, in his native city.

Nápoles proudly represented Cuban music on tours through European countries, in Australia, in various countries of the American continent. This tireless work in art earned him that just over a year ago the Municipal Assembly of Popular Power awarded him its highest distinction: the Shield of the City, recognition that was added to the José María Heredia Plaque, the Medal of the Laureate, the Raúl Gómez García Order.

During the evening in which he received the Shield of the City and later on countless occasions, always in the midst of some artistic celebration or simply in the living room of his house, Roberto Nápoles Castillo confessed that for him the most pleasant thing, as he approached a century of existence, were conversations with those who passed in front of his home and stopped to greet him.

Nápoles never ceased to be the same youthful musician, improviser, creative... That is why he became a paradigm, a source of pride for Cuba and especially for Santiago de Cuba, the city of his loves, which today will bid him farewell at 3:00 p.m., when the funeral procession leaves the house in the Los Hoyos neighborhood and the King of the Double Bass continues the path he began yesterday toward eternity.