Introducing the music of composer/drummer/producer/clinician Roland Vazquez. Here are site pages representing 30+ years of his independent recordings (CDs with audio samples & review quotes) from the "funky Salsa Bebop" of Best of the LA Jazz Ensemble (1977); through the Afro Latin chamber Jazz of Further Dance and Quintet Live (2007); and including his recent Afro Latin Big Band project: The Visitor (2010). Also available here are scores & parts (with audio and score excerpts); residency & clinic options with reviews; and a frequently updated calendar of recent and upcoming events.

Roland's music can be found on services like Apple Music and Spotify.

You can contact us at
romu@rolandvazquez.com

06-29-2026
Arts Mid-Hudson Bestows Community Arts Grant for Bridge Arts Project With Musical Direction by Bard Faculty Member Roland Vazquez.
Bridge Arts, a Kingston-based nonprofit dedicated to growing a more diverse and innovative music community, has received a 2026 Community Arts Grant from Arts Mid-Hudson in support of the Bridge Arts Afro-Caribbean Big Band, for which Bard College Artist in Residence Roland Vazquez will serve as musical director.
Vazquez will guide the ensemble in repertoire rooted in Afro-Cuban, Caribbean, and contemporary Latin jazz traditions, drawing on his expertise in the music of the African Diaspora. The project brings together professional musicians and advanced youth artists from across the Hudson Valley and will culminate in a public performance in Ulster County later in 2026, with an emphasis on expanding access to culturally specific jazz programming and creating mentorship opportunities for young musicians alongside professional artists.
The Music Program, one of the largest programs on Bard's campus, provides a wide range of musical concentrations, from classical composition and performance to jazz, electronic music, musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory.

Interview with Andy Edwards on YouTube
"Rhythm: The Embodiment of Being"

Roland Vazquez / AJO Nonet
Live at The Falcon
September 29, 2022
Three-Title Montage

Roland Vazquez "Jazz Generations"
on Radio Free Rhinecliff
Episode 3 "And Sometimes Angels" 1960s Civil Rights Era jazz
Episode 2 "Afro to Jazz / Jazz To Afro: Eternal Diaspora"
Episode 1 "Music is Also Memory" influences of my early "ears"

RV Big Band Slide Shows
"Guarabé" (Clare Fischer)
"Whirlpool"
"The Visitor"

RV Quintet Slide Shows
Videos Playlist


Roland Vazquez Band Live at
Shapeshifter Lab, Brooklyn NY,
April 2013
Whirlpool
Créencias

Afro Bop Alliance "Revelation"
(Sept 2016/ OA2 Records):
"...the balance of the program is devoted to the work of Roland Vazquez, whose involved and boundlessly imaginative scores establish him as one of the major jazz composers of our time. Vazquez' accomplish-ments (as drummer and composer) stretch back to the mid-1970's, including a pivotal stint with his mentor Clare Fischer. A seasoned educator as well, Vazquez has amassed a varied output including works for big bands, orchestra, chamber groups, percussion ensembles and more. His 2010 release "The Visitor" earned wide acclaim and brought much deserved attention to this great and underrated voice in large-ensemble jazz."
David R. Adler - New York, May 2016)
"No Rest For The Bones Of The Dead" Excerpt: Audio & Score
"Creencias" Excerpt: Audio & Score

Roland Vazquez Band "The Visitor" (RVD7007)

Includes the composer's works Urantia, Whirlpool, Thru a Window, The Path of Change, Sevilla, & The Visitor - as well as Guarabé (by his inspirational mentor Clare Fischer).
(read more here)