Richard Auguste Morse was born in Puerto Rico in 1957 to a Haitian mother, then teaching and performing dance, and an American father, who was founding the Caribbean Studies program at the University of Puerto Rico at the time. Several years later the family moved to Woodbridge, Connecticut (both parents were Yale professors, in Drama and Latin American studies, respectively). Growing up mixed race was not easy. “It took time for me to realize that I came from a mixed family,” Morse muses. “I didn’t know. I asked my dad if it was true. It became more of an issue when I was a teenager in boarding school; I had heard rumors that I was of mixed race, because that’s when you have to choose social camps.”
Morse’s next stop was Princeton, where he joined a Caribbean-style punk-rock band called Groceries. The band lived in Belle Mead, New Jersey (right outside Princeton), in a farmhouse converted into a rehearsal/living space after graduation. “My musical education took place at CBGB’s, Max’s Kansas City, and a great new age/punk/rock club in Trenton, New York, called King Tut’s City Gardens, where we became a house band, and played with UK bands like the Thompson Twins and Flock of Seagulls,” he recalls. “Removed” from the band in 1984 for being “an uncompromising artist,” Morse moved to New York City, where he began working with Steve Rubell, of Studio 54 fame. “I learned things from Steve Rubell… Most importantly, to infuse all that you do with art, business, and music,” recalls Morse.
In 1985, after a period of bohemian New York living, mingling with the likes of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Morse wanted to get back into making music. Morse is actually a third-generation Haitian musician; Candio, his maternal grandfather, was a twoubadou (Kreyòl for troubadour, a singer-composer), and his mother, Emerante de Pradines, is an established singer, recording several albums of Haitian roots music in the 1950s (now 97, she is in the process of opening a music and arts school in Port-au-Prince). “My mother sang the same songs we perform with RAM, but with an operatic voice and an acoustic guitar,” says Morse. He’d always been fascinated with the music and culture of his motherland, and so at 28, he picked up and moved to Port-au-Prince, intending to explore the rhythms of Haitian roots music as a source of inspiration. Smitten with the music, the land, and its people—his people—Morse has been there ever since.
Once in Haïti, Morse “didn’t know where to start.” Soon after arriving, the country went into political upheaval, and ruthless dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier fled. “The military took over, and there were a lot of shootings, things I’d never experienced before.” While immersing himself in Haitian culture and rhythms, “an ongoing process that continues to this day,” he had a dream: “Someone came up to me and gave me a crazy message. I tried to investigate the dream once I woke up, and went to Jacmel [an old port town], where I met Madame Nerva, a renowned vodou priestess, who insisted I spend time with her.” The process of his initiation into vodou began, culminating in his ordination as a priest circa 2001.
Back in 1987, Morse took over the lease for the legendary Oloffson, an enchanting but dilapidated hotel. His restoration efforts included staging art shows and hiring local traditional dance groups, finally choosing the one that would eventually become RAM. Morse fell in love with one of the singers, Lunise Exume; they married, had two children, and together still run the hotel, which has hosted numerous celebrities over the years, including Mick Jagger, Graham Greene, and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. The Oloffson is not only their home but the venue for RAM’s electrifying Thursday night performances. With the official creation of RAM (Richard’s initials) in 1990, Morse became the songwriter and Lunise began leading the female vocalists. Conceived as a roots band, influenced by the “mizikrasin” (roots music) movement that became popular in Haïti following Duvalier’s exile, RAM combined ancient African rhythms, ceremonial vodou, and traditional folk music with rock ‘n’ roll. Incorporating traditional vodou lyrics and instruments (rara horns, petwo drums), and singing in Kreyòl, French, and English, it was a perfect combination.
In its 26 years of existence, RAM has toured throughout Haïti and North America (including a concert with Arcade Fire). In 1993 RAM contributed to the Philadelphia soundtrack. “Jonathan Demme was collecting Haitian art and doing Haitian documentaries at the time, did a Haitian compilation album. We had just completed our first recording, and I sent him a cassette. That’s how it was in those days: cassette tapes. He loved the music and put it on the soundtrack,” Morse explained. The fourth generation, Morse’s son, William, recently joined the band. “He grew up with RAM, and used to come on tour with us.” It was a natural progression for the young guitarist.
Morse is politically outspoken, critical of Haitian, American and international powers, expressing his views openly on Twitter and other platforms. He resigned from his post as advisor to the President in December 2012, realizing Martelly was “not on board,” more interested in personal gain than in the recovery and well-being of his country.
