| Our first contact to
the music was in Cienfuegos, Cuba, where we visited for a fortnight in 1990.
Our dinners were enriched with a local trio that performed latinamerican
music.
Later we wanted to find something
similar and a year later we were introduced to Los Panchos music during our
visit in Spain. And after that there has not been going back. Whenever we
want to have a proper dinner, this magnificent music flavors our food.
Formed in 1944 by lead singer
Hernando Aviles (Herminio Avilés Negrón), background vocalist Chucho Navarro
(José de Jesús Navarro Moreno), and requinto (small
guitar) player Alfredo Gil (Alfredo "Güero" Bojalil Gil), the trio has gone through numerous personnel
changes. Aviles was replaced by Raúl Shaw Moreno in 1951, with Moreno
replaced by Julio Rodriguez Reyes (Julito) the following year. With Avilés' return in
1956, the original trio was reunited until 1958, when Avilés was replaced by
Johnny Albino. After a decade with the group, Albino was replaced by Enrique
Cáceres. Four years later, Cáceres was replaced by Ovidio Hernández (who
didn't play the guitar), who
remained with the group until 1976, when he was replaced by Rafael Basurto
Lara.
Announcing Gil's retirement during a
television special in Venezuela in 1981, Los Trio Panchos disbanded. This
proved to be premature when Navarro and Lara reunited, a few months later,
and continued to perform with a lengthy list of guitarists, including Willy
Fonseca, Lalo Ayala, Jose Luis Sanchez Camacho, and Gabriel Vargas.
Following Navarro's death in 1993, Lara has continued as a soloist.
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