ArtistInfo

Héctor Napolitano

Band,
Latin, Folk, World and Rock
A.k.a. Héctor Luis Napolitano Galarza

Son of Hector Napolitano, an Italo-Argentinean, and Delia Galarza (both deceased), Old Napo usually remembers that the 'culprit' was an old stick guitar that had only one string and was 'stolen' from a friend of his mother, who visited them. And that instrument kept him in some corner of his house (which he himself does not remember) until his mother discovered him and beat him up. She understood that a potential musician was really born and decided to buy her a guitar, which she learned to play with the advice of her neighbors (then older) Pedro Zambrano, Lorenzo Luces, among others. At the beginning of the seventies he was part of Los Apóstoles group, one of the pioneers of the rock from Guayaquil, along with Marcelo Acosta, Carlos del Campo, Tito Haensel and Flaco Matute. But Los Apóstoles was not his first group experience, since in 1968 when he was studying at the Aguirre Abad school he already showed his skill with the guitar against professional groups of the time, such as Los Corvets. Dominator of other instruments such as the banjo, mandolin, three Cuban, harmonica and even bongos, the accelerated life of Old Napo has developed between Guayaquil, Quito and Galápagos. In his hometown he remained until 1979 and the following year he traveled to the capital where he procreated Bastián (16 years old and percussion student at the San Francisco University of Quito) with Mónica Vaca. It was the time when alcohol and drugs were part of his life, a topic he prefers not to talk about because he confesses that he has overcome it and does not recommend it to anyone. However, it was the stage of his life in which his folkloric inclination with indigenous music, from Imbabura, also the Afro-Emerald and even that which identifies oriental tribes such as the Shuar, arose. And that decade of the eighties was where the Promesas Temporales group emerged with his compadre Hugo Idrovo and lasted between 1983 and 1986. In Quito he stayed until 1992 when he decided to go to the Galapagos, where Lucas (10 years old) was born, product of his relationship with María Pérez. During that 'pilgrimage', from one place to another, his soner trait was accentuated, which he assimilated in his childhood, that now the new generation of followers knows and who does not care if at times he is a cultured type or if he sometimes releases dozens of profanity. That galapagueña adventure ended in 2000, while for the next two years she opted for a gypsy life, where she lived where it was most convenient, and where she was born Penélope (3 years old) with the French Marié Legagneux (both live in his native country). Since 2002 he settled in his native Guayaquil, but now in the Las Peñas neighborhood, near where Old Napo was born and grew, as he prefers that they always remember him.

Members

Bastián Napolitano dr *1989 CU