In 1977, Vazquez received a Jazz Performance Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which supported his recording Urban Ensemble – The Music of Roland Vazquez (1979). Billboard Magazine called the album “funky-salsa-bebop … a decade ahead of its time.” From 1978 to 1981, he was a core member of Clare Fischer’s group Salsa Picante, appearing on the Grammy-winning album Salsa Picante 2+2.[2][3] In 2009, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc. awarded Roland Music RVCD (Red Hook, NY) a grant to record The Visitor as part of their “New American Recording Projects.”
He has released several albums as artist producer, including Feel Your Dream (1982), The Tides of Time (1988), No Separate Love (1991), Further Dance (1997), Quintet Live (2007) and The Visitor (2010). His compositions have been performed and recorded by ensembles and jazz orchestras around the world. He has performed and toured mostly with his octet and quintet (1975-2015), occasionally also leading his own big band