What follows is a discographic profile to complement John Child's extensive interview: Henry Fiol ...I Am What I Am

Henry Fiol
b. 16 January 1947, Manhattan, New York City, of Puerto Rican and Italian American parentage. Fiol is a painter of sound and colour. From his rich musical palette have emerged some of the most engaging Latin albums of the last 30 odd years. Originally a doo-wop fan, he became a Latin music convert in c.1960 after seeing the band of Rafael Cortijo with Ismael Rivera while visiting his family in Puerto Rico for Christmas. The craze for charangas (flute and violin bands) in the first half of the '60s inspired Henry to teach himself the flute. With the mid-'60s swing to brass, Fiol was so drawn to Johnny Pacheco's pure Cuban trumpet conjunto (group / band) sound that he sought out the original conjunto recordings by Cuban names like Sonora Matancera, Félix Chappottín, Arsenio Rodríguez and others. Henry acquired his skills as a singer and conga player by joining in with voice and percussion jam sessions called rumbones, which often used to occur in the streets of Latin neighbourhoods, on beaches, or in parks.

Henry's research into Cuban roots led to a fascination with the Afro Cuban form called son, and he started creating his own New York version of it. In the development of his own smooth and entrancing vocal style, he soaked-up the influence of the great Cuban soneros (singers of son) Abelardo Barroso, Cheo Marquetti, Beny Moré, Joseíto Fernández and Miguelito Cuní. "Nostalgia, however," wrote Fiol in 1990, "has never been my objective. I've tried to stay close to the rhythmic roots, while at the same time adding a contemporary touch to the lyrics and the arrangements. If I had to label or categorise my sound, I wouldn't really call it 'Salsa.' I'd probably call it 'Montuno,' 'Típico,' 'Son Moderno,' or as some have called it, 'Corazón Music' (literally: Heart Music)" (from the liner notes to the compilation Sonero).

Fiol's childhood ambition was to be a painter. After graduating in Fine Arts from New York's Hunter College, he began a career in education in 1968. Henry has had an involvement with the artwork for most of his recordings and painted the cover illustrations for a number of them.

Between 1969 and 1974, Fiol played conga and sang in the chorus with various bands, including Orquesta Capri, Orquesta Broadway and Orquesta Típica New York. He made his recording debut with the latter, providing the lead vocals to his composition "Cundy Macundy" on Mike Pérez y su Orq. Típica New York. Besides Mike Pérez (bandleader, violinist, arranger and composer), the album featured ace Cuban flautist Don Gonzalo Fernández (who also wrote two arrangements and co-produced with Pérez), percussionist Osvaldo "Chi Hua Hua" Martínez and pianist Mike Martínez.

In 1974, Henry founded and co-led (with bass and tres player, William Millán) the young two trumpet, rhythm section and vocals conjunto Saoco. The outfit adopted a typical Cuban sound, but rather than simply imitate, Fiol and Millán's progressive and creative arrangements infused the traditional Cuban structures with freshness and a distinctly urban feel. In 1975, Millán and another Saoco member, trumpeter Ken Fradley, performed on the notable Tierra Va A Temblar by former boogaloo star, Johnny Colón (b. 1942, El Barrio / Spanish Harlem, Manhattan, USA, of Puerto Rican parentage). Millán also assisted Colón with the album's production and arrangements.

Saoco's 1976 debut on Mericana Records, Siempre Seré Guajiro, was co-produced by Fiol, Millán and "The One and Only" Al Santiago (that's how he was described on the sleeve). The success of the album, which spawned the big hits "Lejos del Batey" and "Yo No Como Camarón" (both written by Fiol, who composed three other tracks and co-wrote one with pianist Ray Santiago), took the band to the Madison Square Garden as one of the year's hottest properties. Henry sang the lead vocals to his five self-penned songs on Saoco's follow-up, Macho Mumba, on Salsoul Records, a subsidiary of Mericana. Mellow voiced Ray Ramos provided lead vocals to the album's three remaining tracks, although he was not given a credit.

Fiol split with Saoco. "The situation with Saoco was a very bitter, ugly situation," disclosed Fiol in 1993. "The record company was involved; there was a court case involving ownership of the name. It was a difficult period. In fact I dropped-out of music for a couple of years while it sorted itself out. When the court case was finally settled, I was given my release and the other members of the band continued with the name Saoco and I continued under my own name." The band issued Curare, Papa Montero and El Quinto between 1978 and 1981 under the name of William Millán y Saoco, with Ramos and José Luis Ayala sharing lead vocals. They disbanded and Ramos, who is also a gifted composer, turned bandleader, releasing a series of five albums between 1983 and 1993.

Meanwhile in 1980, Fiol made his solo debut with the deservedly bestselling Fe, Esperanza y Caridad on SAR Records, on which the label's co-founder, Roberto Torres, produced and performed. On this album and his 1981 follow-up, El Secreto, Fiol was backed by a two trumpet conjunto of session musicians, including trumpeter Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, pianist Alfredo Valdés Jr., percussionist Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez and tres player Charlie Rodríguez. "I always had the freedom with Roberto Torres to choose material and to pick the musicians," said Fiol in 1993. In 1982, Henry organised his own conjunto with a frontline of one trumpet and a tenor saxophone, plus conga, bongo, güiro, acoustic bass, piano, tres and voices (his lead vocals plus chorus). "I wanted to do something that was a sort of a signature instrumentation," explained Fiol. "I always liked the saxophone, especially the tenor sax, it approximates to the human voice; it has a big range. And also, being an avid jazz listener for many years, the tenor sax / trumpet combination was very prevalent in the '50s and '60s. I wanted to incorporate that, because I thought the sax would give a different colour to the conjunto. I started out with one trumpet and tenor, and a few albums later I switched to the two trumpets and I find I like that a lot better." He recorded his final album for SAR in 1983, the self-produced La Ley de La Jungla, with this conjunto.

In 1983, Fiol formed his own Corazón Records label and named his conjunto Corazón. Between 1983 and 1986, he issued three essential albums on Corazón. "When I started my own label I had to wear many different hats: as the owner of the company, the promotion man, etc - it was very difficult trying to sell 'Henry Fiol'." In 1988, the shrinking salsa circuit forced Henry to disband his group and he decided to discontinue Corazón Records. He worked on an English language "salsa-pop" concept with a view to hooking up with a major label, but: "some American companies found the sound too Latin," explained Fiol in 1988, "and there are many negative attitudes and prejudices here (in the USA) regarding anything 'Latin' or 'Hispanic'." So he aborted the project.

In the meantime, ex-Saoco and ex-Corazón member, Puerto Rican pianist, arranger and composer Ray Santiago (he performed on all Fiol's Corazón releases), debuted as the leader of his own conjunto on Lluvia Con Salsa in 1988 on El Abuelo Records. The label was founded that year by Humberto Corredor and Henry Cárdenas. Ray's former Saoco colleague, William Millán, played bass on the album and shared arranging and production with Santiago.

Fiol signed with El Abuelo at the end of 1988 and released Renacimiento (Rebirth) the following year. On the album, Fiol and his 16-year-old blind son, Orlando, created an idiosyncratic blending of the typical Cuban sound with new musical technology. Apart from the two trumpets and tenor sax (his first use of this combination on an album), everything was performed, arranged and produced by the father / son duo (Fiol: lead vocal, chorus and percussion; Orlando: piano, synthesizer and chorus). Talented Orlando, who won the Itzak Perlman Award in 1988 for his excellence on classical piano, played all bass and tres parts, and other effects, on the synthesizer.

In 1990, the UK-based Earthworks label (a division of Virgin Records at the time) compiled the critically acclaimed Sonero, which was a selection of some of Henry's best material from his three albums on the Corazón label. "In a just world, Fiol would sell a thousand copies of Sonero for every one of the latest from Rubén Blades (not to mention Gloria Estefan's Miami Sound Machine) that gets consumed," wrote Norman Weinstein in the American magazine The Beat in 1991.

Fiol, who had been using pick-up groups for his live appearances, reformed his band in 1991 (with a two trumpet / tenor sax frontline) and took them into the studio to record Creativo for MVM Records. Orlando, who started studying music at Columbia University in 1990, performed on the album, acted as musical director and shared the production and arranging chores with his father. A long-time associate of Henry's, Russell "Skee" Farnsworth, carried out the task of transcription. Farnsworth, who worked with Ricardo "Richie" Ray in the '60s and Pedro Rafael Chaparro in the '70s, assisted with arrangements and transcriptions on the majority of Fiol's solo albums, and performed on both of Henry's 1983 releases.

El Don Del Son on Kubaney / Codiscos "was recorded in early 1994 in Medellín, Colombia, using a few key musicians from my group and some fine musicians from Colombia," explained Fiol, who produced and wrote the album. Orlando directed the band, which again featured two trumpets and tenor sax, played keyboards and conga, sang coro and wrote the arrangements. He made his long awaited UK debut in June 1995. The Montuno Sessions - Live From Studio "A" (Mr Bongo, 1995) included two 1989 radio sessions by Henry and Orlando. His 2002 CD Guapería on Fonocaribe / Faisán was made in New York featuring ace bassist Andy González and with arranging chores shared by pianist Willie Ruiz and tenor sax player Luis Disla. In 2006 the major Colombian Fuentes label picked-up Guapería and reissued it along with new version of "La Juma de Ayer" (originally from 1980's Fe, Esperanza y Caridad on SAR) under the title La Juma de Hoy. The track "De la Mano a la Boca" achieved some popularity in Cali. To tackle years of poor distribution, Fiol made his 11th solo album, De Cachete (meaning "Freebie") back on Corazón Records, available as a free download in 2008.

Fiol has toured Colombia - where he is incredibly popular - Venezuela, Ecuador, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland and Italy.