Henry Fiol (born January 16, 1947)
is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader and painter.
He is known for his traditional approach to
son cubano
Son cubano is a genre of music and dance that originated in the highlands of eastern Cuba during the late 19th century. It is a syncretic genre that blends elements of Spanish and African origin. Among its fundamental Hispanic components are th ...
and other Cuban music styles, and he is considered a "cult favorite" among
Latin music
Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...
fans.
Fiol was born in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, United States,
to an
Italian-American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...
mother and a
Puerto Rican father.
He studied fine arts at
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
and became a teacher before starting his career as a musician in the 1969.
In 1974, he co-founded, along with William Millán, a Cuban-style conjunto called Saoco, recording two albums with the group, ''Siempre seré guajiro'' for Mericana Records and ''Macho Mumba'' for
Salsoul Records
Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch releases, ...
.
He was the bandleader, singer, songwriter and cover artist for both albums, before leaving the band because of creative differences with Millán.
William Millán was the sole leader of Saoco on its next two and final albums.
In 1980, Henry Fiol made his solo debut on
SAR Records
SAR Records was a record company founded by soul music legend Sam Cooke in 1961. The meaning of "SAR" has been disputed; it has been listed as "Sam & Alex Records" (J.W. Alexander was Cooke's business, song-writing associate, and friend) and also a ...
.
He recorded two more albums for the label before forming his own record company, Corazón, along with a new band of the same name.
He continued to release albums over the following decades. His latest album, ''Ciudadano del mundo'', was released in 2012.
His son, Orlando Fiol, is a pianist and conga drummer.
Discography
With Saoco
*1976: ''Siempre seré guajiro'' (Mericana)
*1977: ''Macho mumba'' (Salsoul)
Solo albums
*1980: ''Fe, esperanza y caridad (SAR)
*1981: ''El secreto'' (SAR)
*1983: ''La ley de la jungla'' (SAR)
*1983: ''Corazón'' (Corazón)
*1985: ''Colorao y negro'' (Corazón)
*1986: ''Juega billar'' (Corazón)
*1989: ''Renacimiento'' (El Abuelo)
*1990 : ''Sonero'' (Earthworks)
*1991 : ''Creativo'' (Palacio Rodven)
*1994 : ''El don del son'' (Kubaney)
*2002 : ''Guapería'' (Fonocaribe)
*2008 : ''De cachete'' (Corazón)
*2011 : ''Salsa subterránea'' (Corazón)
*2012 : ''Ciudadano del mundo'' (Corazón)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiol, Henry
1947 births
Living people
Singers from New York City
Son cubano singers