Rolando Laserie (born August 27, 1923, died November 22, 1998) was a Cuban singer and percussionist. He started his career as a percussionist with bands in his hometown, In 1998, ''

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'' and ''

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'' magazine described him as one of the great Cuban singers of all time and as one of the greatest vocalists in

Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...

Biography

Rolando Laserie was born in

Santa Clara, Cuba Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is centrally located in the province and Cuba. Santa Clara is the fifth-most populous Cuban city, with a population of nearly 245,959. History Santa Clara was founde ...

. He started his musical career at a young age as a percussionist with musical bands in his hometown. Prior that, he moved to the capital of Cuba, Havana, where he performed with numerous musical groups including Benny More's band, Banda Gigante. Laserie later transitioned into singing and appeared with Tony Álvarez and

Olga Chorens Olga Chorens (7 February 1924 – 22 September 2023) was a Cuban singer and actress. She started music early as young as 11. She gained huge fame after performing in the Cuban radio musical program ''Ritmos del Plata'' hosted by Tony Álvarez. ...

as a singing trio which was assisted by Cuban pianist,

Bebo Valdés Dionisio Ramón Emilio Valdés Amaro (October 9, 1918 – March 22, 2013), better known as Bebo Valdés, was a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, especially due to his big ...

radio orchestra. In 1960 when

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

took power, Laserie frequently moved from city to city with his wife, including

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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and

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where he would eventually relocate and settle. Laserie became an American citizen, he recorded over 30 studio albums before his death in 1998. He also appeared alongside Israel López Valdés for a reunion concert in 1996

Death

Laserie died of cardiac disease in Healthsouth Doctor's Hospital in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, United States, and was buried at the Miami Memorial Park Cemetery.

Discography

Recordings according to

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Albums

Recordings in the late 1950s and early 1960s with GEMA Records; recordings with

Musart Discos Musart, known as Musart Records in English, is a Mexican record label founded in 1948 in Mexico City. It is headquartered in Miami, FL and is a leading independent producer, publisher and distributor of Latin music, managing over 72,000 copy ...

, RCA Vik, Fania and other labels in the late 1970s and 1980s. * 1977: ''2 Ases al Tiro'' * 1982: ''Del Película'' * 1998: ''¡De Película'' * 1998: ''El Guapachoso'' * 1999: ''Homenaje Al Guapachoso'' * 1999: ''Todo el Tiempo…'' * 2000: ''15 Exitos, vol.2'' * 2004: ''SaborCanta'' * 2007: ''¡el Muerto Vivo!'' * 2008: ''Transplante de Corazón'' * 2008: ''Cada Noche un Amor'' * 2008: ''Arrecotin Arrecotan'' * 2008: ''Viejo Rabo Verde'' * 2008: ''El Reloj De Pastora'' * 2008: ''Cuánto Te Quiero'' * 2008: ''Camina Catalina''

Collaborations with others

With

Cortijo A ''cortijo'' is a type of traditional rural dwelling (akin to the German ''Bauernhof'', also known as a farmhouse in English) in the southern half of Spain, including all of Andalusia and parts of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha.Alcalá Venc ...

y su combo and

Ismael Rivera Ismael Rivera a.k.a. "Maelo" (October 5, 1931 – May 13, 1987), was a Puerto Rican composer and salsa singer. Early life Rivera was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a sector of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was the first of five children born to ...

*''Danger'' (Gema Records, in Puerto Rico, 1962; Rumba, in mainland United States, 1966) With

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

*''Pachanga in New York'' (Gema Records, 1961)

References

External links

Rolando Laserie
at

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Libraries
Rolando Laserie
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lasserie, Rolando 1923 births 1998 deaths Cuban jazz singers Cuban jazz percussionists Latin jazz musicians People from Santa Clara, Cuba