This page is dedicated to that wonderful Latin American band, Don Pato. The band was started in Portsmouth, UK as a student band. During the late 80s and early 90s, we became the best Latin band on the south coast. Our speciality was getting people dancing. We played a cumbia, merengue, salsa and funk and could guarantee to get even the most jaded audience literally dancing on the tables.
The band normally had between ten and twelve members including a three piece brass section featuring the amazing trumpet talents of the late Ron Williams. Although the band went through many line up changes the rhythm section remained more or less the same. At the core of this was Rupert Leighton, a great drummer and percussionist and good friend.
Rupert has many musical influences but his greatest talent was knowing what to play, when to play it and when to play nothing at all. Rupert is now doing relief work in Cambodia.
We had several vocalists and normally had two singers fronting the band. The greatest of these was Helen Gambold. Her voice grew and grew and is a joy to hear even on a dodgy cassette recorded on the other side of the planet. Despite her vocal brilliance Helen ended up singing in karaoke bars in Japan.
Without doubt the best musician in the band was the late Ron Williams. Ron was utterly brilliant, knew music upside down, had a whole wardrobe full of funny stories and was God as far as most of us were concerned. Ron had toured and recorded with many big names, Elton John and Boy George for example, and had played everywhere from Casablanca to Madison Square Gardens. It was an honour to play in the same band.
As for the rest of us, well there was Max Green (guitar), who was one of the original members and merengue expert, Richard Walker and Richard Measey(saxes), the great Alan Jenkins, an exceptional fretless bass player last heard of making techno tunes in Brighton, Jim Case (keyboards) the only man I know who got away with improvising jazz on his local church organ during a funeral. Along the way there were many other people who's names I have forgotten, sorry chaps, but you know who you are.
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