Guy Durosier

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Guy Durosier, a versatile Haitian singer and organist whom Edith Piaf once called ''the living breath of Haiti,'' died on Thursday at his home in Bothell, a suburb of Seattle. He was 68. The cause was complications from pulmonary cancer, said his son Robert. In a career more than 50 years long, Mr. Durosier also played the saxophone and composed music. Like most Haitian musicians, he had an eclectic style, ranging from big band sounds to Cuban music of the 50's. His genre reached even those who left Haiti too young to have known his music firsthand and those who were born in the United States to Haitian parents. His cross-generational appeal was evident when Mr. Durosier received a standing ovation after performing at Lincoln Center in June 1998 during a fund-raiser for the Haitian-American Alliance, a community group based in Brooklyn. Reviewers said Mr. Durosier outshone younger and more popular Haitian musicians like the singer Emeline Michel and the guitarist Beethova Oba. Born in Port-au-Prince, the capital, Mr. Durosier started performing at age 14. In 1947 he began playing the clarinet with the school band at St. Louis de Gonzague School in Port-au-Prince. A few years later, he began to play professionally when he caught the attention of Issa Saieh, the maestro of the most famous orchestra in Haiti.