Porfirio Mariol Sagarra, known in the music world as "Fico," passed away in Santiago de Cuba, leaving a void in the musical scene of the eastern city and in the history of one of its most emblematic orchestras.
His death was announced this Sunday by the Miguel Matamoros Music and Entertainment Marketing Company, which bid farewell to him as "a valuable musician from Santiago" and extended condolences to family and friends.
Fico was a trombonist, composer, arranger, and a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). His name was forever linked to Los Karachi, the orchestra he joined in 1983 and where he remained for 32 years, eventually serving as its director.
Before his time with Los Karachi, the musician had been part of other bands in the city, including Los Taínos and the Orquesta Típica Tradicional, building a career that, by 2014, had already spanned over half a century on Cuban and international stages.
The entity that announced his passing nostalgically recalled the sound that Fico and his companions created in the eighties: "Karachi was truly a musical storm. Who doesn't remember the trombone jam that featured Fico, Buqueta, Aquino, and the whole group?"
One of his most celebrated compositions was "Señores, bailen Butterfly," a piece that boosted the return of Los Karachi to popularity in the 1990s and remained among the top positions in Cuban music for over eight months.
The orchestra also had an extensive period in Mexico, where it performed for approximately ten years in various venues across the country. "It was 10 years in Mexico where they offered the Aztecs the best of their dedication," recalled the Santiago cultural enterprise, noting that the group knew how to "elevate Cuban music" before returning to Santiago.
After retiring as the director of Los Karachi, Fico did not abandon his instrument. He was still seen around Garzón, Enramadas, and Plaza de Marte with his trombone over his shoulder, accompanied by other veteran musicians in the group Los Jubilados, dedicated to traditional music.
In April 2014, the orchestra Suena Cubano paid tribute to him at the Salón del Son in Santiago de Cuba, acknowledging his extensive career on stages in Cuba and abroad. The local newspaper Sierra Maestra described him as a "legend of the trombone in Cuba."
The passing of Fico Mariol marks another loss for Los Karachi, an orchestra founded on April 2, 1976 that had already suffered the death of Dagoberto Planos Despaigne, its lead singer for nearly four decades, who passed away at the age of 64 at the Saturnino Lora Provincial Hospital in Santiago de Cuba.
When asked about his best moments, Fico responded with a phrase that the cultural company from Santiago chose to bid farewell to him: "My best moments are the ones I am living."
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