Gabino Pampini

Born in Panama as Gabino Espinosa, the celebrated soneros performer first lent his voice to El Combo Impacto and Roberto Y Su Zafra. Those sessions later surfaced as the compilation Otra Vez... Gabino Pampini. After moving to Miami, he connected with the Colombian multi-instrumentalist Hernán Gutiérrez, whose résumé already included work alongside Fruko during the previous decade. On Gutiérrez’s 1980 release Y Ahora... La Tremenda Salsa De Hernán Gutiérrez Y Su Orquesta, Pampini split lead duties with Cuban vocalist Javier Oliva; the album was subsequently reissued in Colombia under the title La Hermandad Latina and credited to Pampini alone. Three years afterward, alongside Colombian Oscar Alberto Abueta and ex-Los Van Van singer Israel ‘Kantor’ Sardiñas, he again fronted a Gutiérrez project, the 1980s landmark Con Sacrificio, widely regarded among the decade’s ten finest salsa recordings. Gutiérrez passed away soon after its completion.

Pampini sustained that same musical direction once he stepped out as a solo act. He joined forces with bassist, arranger and composer Ricardo Lance, born in Barranquilla, Colombia, to helm the Miami-based ensemble Fuerza Noble. Between 1987 and 1988 the pair issued three identically titled albums, each cut in the same city. The group’s horn section comprised two trumpets and two or three trombones, supported by a full rhythm section of bass, conga, bongo, timbales and piano together with additional vocalists; ex-Sonora Ponceña lead singer Yolanda Rivera contributed to the chorus on every record. After Pampini and Lance eventually went separate ways, the Panamanian appeared as a guest on the 1989 Colombian session Frivolo by Grupo Galé, whose young leader Diego Galé handled percussion, vocals and production. Pampini delivered the lead on the album’s standout single, ‘Mi Vecina’. He then joined the roster of major Latin imprint TH-Rodven, making his debut for the company in 1990 with the Miami-recorded Las Aventuras Musicales De... Gabino Pampini, four of whose arrangements were supplied by Alberto Barros. In the same period Lance launched his own band-leading career with the 1989 album Ricardo Lance Y Su Grupo Sublime, a three-trombone outfit that incorporated four former Fuerza Noble members. The following year he served as musical director and contributed two charts to Mas Alla Del Sabor!, the recording by female singer and composer Arabella, born María Margarita Pinillos on 15 June 1950 in Bogotá, Colombia.