Farewell to singer Rolando Montero, El Muso

December 20, 2023

Bolero is in mourning, Rolando Montero, El Muso, passed away in the capital this Saturday, December 16, 2023. He was a born bolero singer, with that cantina style, which to some extent reminded us of Orlando Contreras.

Rolando Montero Tamayo is one of the last bolero and son singers with an oriental flavor, with that masculine style of performing songs. He is the herald of "El menú", that 1979 hit that had all Cuban dancers eating with Roberto Faz's ensemble.

El Muso has this nickname because of his aunt Leopoldina, "she had a boyfriend, I resembled him and in honor of that memory they gave me the nickname Muso. My parents didn't want that nickname, but my aunt insisted and people always tell you what your parents don't want them to tell you."

Little Rolandito sang as a child in school, and in his youth he studied lathe work:

One fine day, in 1966, an orchestra arrived at the workshop and people encouraged me to sing and I sang. Then they called me for a rehearsal they were having and I told them I didn't know how to sing, that I didn't have rhythm when singing, because the Modelo Oriental ensemble had told me so. Then they said, but you just sang. In the end, they tried to hire me and I was only fourteen years old, but I came up with something and managed to start with them.

In 1968 he was evaluated, where he demonstrated his qualities in son improvisation and in 1974 for six months he looked for work in Havana, they hired him at the Cabaret Nacional (lower level of the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso) where the Bolero ensemble played, "they let me get on stage, I improvised a son and they hired me, that was my first trial by fire".

As time went on, he was recruited for the Siboney ensemble that played at the Tropicana cabaret:

The director told me that they tested singers on stage, as it should be. They had me improvise and the next day, in 1975 I was already singing with them. The director, a fellow named Borroto, told me he would hire me, but he was sure that very soon other ensembles would make me offers, and that's exactly what happened. At the Guanabo carnivals, we alternated with Los Chuqui, right there they proposed that I record my first album and the director told me: "I knew that was going to happen." In the end, I stayed with Los Chuqui, and with them I recorded a hit song, with a theme that was banned because I invented the word "fajao", dedicated to striped and checkered clothing.

El Muso recorded two songs: "Lulú la del rococó" (Ricardo Díaz) and "A la mentira no viro" (Aldo Baquero). With Los Chuqui he got to sing alongside Félix Baloy and Peligro, a singer they called him that, and he was with them until 1979.

Then came the glorious stage of Roberto Faz's ensemble:

At a dance at the Liceo de La Habana, across from the Payret, the singer Aldo Lamas gets sick and the pianist Lázaro Calvo (brother of Pedrito) asks me to support him in covering for Lamas. The director of Los Chuqui didn't want me to sing with anyone else and I handed it over to him.

With Faz's ensemble they recorded the hit of the year, "El menú", that was the great moment for El Muso.

El menú, Rolito told me he had sung it in other times. After I recorded it, Gran Combo also made a version of it. I got on stage at a Gran Combo presentation in Miami and stunned the singers with my improvisations, I have a photo of that moment with Celia Cruz and them. I was never afraid.

With Faz's ensemble he traveled to Panama, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. Montero stayed with Faz's ensemble from 1979 until 1991, at which point he created his own group until 1995.

With my own ensemble, Laíto called me to accompany him to Colombia, along with Celina González. Around that time Laíto recorded "Idilio" which was a huge hit, I was in that chorus, as can be seen in the widely circulated video that ended up with everyone. I remember that at the Karl Marx theater, Laíto came out and it was spectacular. Even young people were shouting for the veteran singer.

In 1997 El Muso records, together with his Gran Sonora and with the English record label Tumi Music, the CD Tres Caras del Son. In this project the son singers Cándido Fabré and Tiburón collaborated, as well as other excellent musicians of the caliber of Changuito and Tata Güines.

Upon returning from Colombia, El Muso created his Gran Sonora which counted on José Luis Quintana (Changuito) on drums until 2003 when he became a solo singer. Among his unforgettable moments, El Muso recalls the presentation with Chucho Valdés' Los Irakere where he sings the bolero that was broadcast by none other than Oscar Valdés, "Dime en qué momento", by Ricardo Díaz. He had a stage with La Sonora Tradición, directed by Rafael Limonta, Chá.

El Muso was also a member of the Charanga de Oro of José Loyola. We remember the bolero "Conversación en tiempo de bolero", by René Touzet.

He recorded the album Todos Estrellas, with Raúl Planas, Omara Portuondo, Pablo Milanés, special presentations with José Luis Cortés, Andy Montañez.

On the Soneros Dorados album he recorded "Pregones Dorados", alternating with younger voices, but already recognized ones like those of Eduardo Morales "Tiburón". To achieve this, the Soneros Dorados didn't rely on anthology themes of Cuban son but on contemporary compositions that preserve the spirit and sound of the classics. Titles like "Pregones dorados" –which gives its name to the album–, "Rivera azul" and "La boda del son y la rumba", appear on the Egrem album and serve as a calling card for a project that should begin its international tour in Colombia.

Responsible for this project was composer and producer Carlos Sanabia, from Santiago de Cuba, who is the soul and promoter of the Club de los Soneros Dorados.

In these experiences he demonstrated his great versatility, his tremendous voice, his personality and his charisma. Personally I was able to share many activities with El Muso and, about him, I have the best opinion regarding various gestures that I greatly appreciate, today with the passage of time.