The Haitian Roots of Sonny Rollins (RIP)

Several years ago, perhaps in 2011 or 2012, we tried to research the Haitian origins of Sonny Rollins. Through interviews, it was clear he was aware of a Haitian grandfather named Paul Solomon or Dr. Solomon. Well, it turns out there was a Haitian doctor named Paul Salomon who was rather prominent in Haitian medicine in the early decades of the 1900s. Exactly how the grandmother of Rollins met Dr. Paul Salomon is unclear, but it was likely during a time when the Haitian was in St. Thomas. Indeed, the 1905 baptism entry for Sonny's mother, Valborg Solomon, indicates her parents were Miriam Walcott and Paul Solomon, the latter a doctor in Haiti. Thanks to the genealogical records digitized on Ancestry, one can find the baptismal data for Valborg Solomon, Sonny's mother. 

We cannot read Danish and haven't found clear evidence of Paul Salomon in Saint Thomas yet. However, one court record in Danish from Ancestry's database does indeed name a Paul Solomon, possibly the same person) before 1905. We were unable to find any evidence of Miriam Walcott residing in Haiti, so it's likely she met Paul Salomon when he spent time in St. Thomas. 

But who was Paul Salomon? Dr. Salomon was born in Coteaux, Haiti to Salomon fils and a mother surnamed Brejot, a widow. Thanks to digitized natal records at the Family Search website, one can date the registration of Paul Salomon's birth to the year 1871. His father was not yet the communal magistrate of Coteaux. Moreover, due to how common Salomon as a surname was, we have not yet been able to confirm any relationship between Salomon fils and the Salomons of Les Cayes, who are ultimately descendants of a noir from Martinique (see L'état haïtien et ses intellectuels by  Délide Joseph). 

The parentage of Paul Salomon is also confirmed by his marriage in 1901 to Louise Momplaisir in Port-au-Prince. Interestingly, the young doctor was married to a politically connected wife who was also related to the Salomon of Les Cayes. Louise Momplaisir's mother, Antoinette Salomon, may have been a relative of Paul Salomon's father. 

Indeed, the earlier marriage record for Maximilien Momplaisir and Antoinette Salomon named her father as Pierre Etienne Lusimond Salomon of Les Cayes. This makes Paul Salomon's wife a descendant of the Salomons of Les Cayes. Once again, evidence for Paul's father hailing from the same family is lacking but possible. 

Records from Port-au-Prince also show that Paul Salomon fathered "natural" children with women he did not marry. The above case is for a child named Jean Joseph Paul Arthur. He also recognized a daughter born in 1894 named Marie Françoise Alice Salomon, born to the same mother. 

Some of Paul Salomon's children in Haiti served in the government, too. One of his children,  René Salomon, even ran for president in the elections of 1957. We believe this man, Dr. Paul Salomon's son, was therefore not a grandson of President Salomon. This child of Dr. Salomon appears in articles in Haiti Sun, currently available for browsing at the Digital Library of the Caribbean. We suspect this man was the one involved with the PSH, a group that mingled noirisme and socialism. 

Lastly, despite Paul Salomon traveling to or through New York City a number of times, Sonny Rollins apparently never met him. Indeed, one must assume that there was no contact at all between Valborg and her father, even after she had permanently moved to New York. 

Luckily, a group photo from the Medical School in Port-au-Prince does show what Paul Salomon looked like. He appears to have been the second from the right in the front row of this picture, next to Justin Dorsainvil. Although it seems unlikely, one wonders if Sonny Rollins ever looked up his maternal grandfather and identified him. It is almost certainly this Paul Salomon who was named in the baptismal record for his mother. 

Neo-Tainos at Caguana

 

Although we are not usually interested in neo-Tainos, we do find them occasionally interesting. Here, in part of a travel Youtuber's video, one can see a group meeting at the important site of Caguana to engage in an areito. And they clearly did some research. One who has read Las Casas and Oviedo can immediately detect their influence in how this group imagines the areito dance. Indeed, there's even a man playing a drum that looks like one sketched in Oviedo's chronicle! Presumably, they're using one of the attempted reconstructions of the Taino language in their singing or chanting, but I could only detect the name Yucahu. Further, their cacique is wearing a belt with a design that suggests it was directly inspired by a famous cotton belt piece from around 500 years ago or so. Others wear skirts with well-known petroglyph figures or designs.

Inherit the Stars

Although we usually avoid some hard science fiction, Hogan's Inherit the Stars throws a number of intriguing scientific mysteries at the reader that are bound to pique everyone's interest. Humans in the late 2020s, beginning to expand beyond the Moon, uncover the remains of a man who died 50,000 years ago. A team of various scientists, linguists, and other specialists, operating under a department of UNSA, begin to investigate what turns out to be the origins of Charlie (the deceased man whose belongings and body is subjected to various tests, revealing him to be essentially human). Anyone familiar with the well-worn tropes of science fiction may guess where this is heading, but Hogan's story handles it well through the likable protagonist, Hunt, an English specialist who is able to collate information from various specialist departments. His willingness to think outside the box make him invaluable, although the novel nicely preserves one of its largest revelations to Danchekker, a biologist who was once an "enemy" of sorts to Hunt. The main flaw appears in the plot, which is advanced through Hunt or others encountering and rethinking conceptualizing evidence after getting stumped. But at one point, the plot inexplicably jumps forward after Hunt accepts Caldwell's secretary's idea of a calendar found in the papers of Charlie. This is somehow followed by sudden leap forward to the cracking of much of the "Lunarian" language and their origins on a planet called Minerva. This sudden advance in the plot is a bit rushed, although the overall novel is a "fun" exploration of a scientific mystery. Even the conclusion in which northern Sudan appears to have played an important role in human history was done well and humorously (Hogan's sense of humor is delightful here).

Lakay

Although we are not usually adept at keeping up with Haitian-American endeavors in animation, we found Lakay to be an interesting project. Better than Laguerre's effort, which was really aimed for a much younger audience, Lakay includes a nice homage to Cap-Haitien and one Haitian-American beginning to understand our homeland. It is also nice to hear most of the dialogue is in Haitian Creole rather than English.

RIP Sonny Rollins

Although it is inevitable that many of the legends of our music have died or will die due to their advanced age, losing them is akin to the loss of the immediately recognizable titans in the field. While jazz will never die, the deaths of our legends brings a sadness. Who will be the future saxophone colossus? And what of the Haiti connection of Sonny Rollins? The vast biography of Rollins published a few years ago scarcely explored the question.

Beauty and the Beast (Live)

So nice to hear one of Wayne Shorter's classic tunes performed live by young people. It really takes one back to the good ol' days. Although Native Dancer was never our favorite Shorter album, this tune always struck us as an effective melding of jazz and funk influences.

Shada

Whilst reading an article on SHADA by Matthew Smith, we were pleasantly reminded me this song by Trio Select quoted at the end. Somehow we did not connect the dots between SHADA and this composition when we first heard this song several years ago. Smith's article is also definitely worth reading for challenging the standard way SHADA has been presented by Haitian historians. Although there is much to criticize, the reality was more nuanced...