Sonny Rollins: “St.Thomas” (1968 )

This is Sonny Rollins (born 1930) performing “St.Thomas” in Denmark in 1968. Rollins is a tenor saxophonist. He is still touring and recording today, having outlived most of his contemporaries such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and Art Blakey, all performers with whom he recorded.

Rollins is usually credited as the composer of “St. Thomas” but the tune is actually based on an old nursery song from the Virgin Islands that his mother sang to him as a child. Rollins made the piece famous on his 1956 album, Saxophone Colossus. It has become a jazz standard recorded by many other artists.

You can watch (and listen to) Rollins perform “Weaver of Dreams” here.