St. Thomas (song)

{{Short description|1955 song by Sonny Rollins}}

"St. Thomas" is among the most recognizable instrumentals in the repertoire of American jazz tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Although Rollins is commonly credited as its composer, the tune is based on the traditional Bahamian folksong "Sponger Money"Dance Songs and Tales from the Bahamas published in 1930 and the traditional English song "The Lincolnshire Poacher". By way of the folk process, "The Lincolnshire Poacher" evolved into a nursery song in the Virgin Islands, which Rollins' mother sang to him when he was a child.Interview on Open Source radio at {{cite web |url=http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/ros/open_source_070405.mp3 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-01-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724024153/http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/ros/open_source_070405.mp3 |archive-date=2011-07-24 }} starting about 4.00 minutes in.

"St. Thomas" became popular when it was released on Rollins's 1956 album Saxophone Colossus, though it had been recorded by Randy Weston in 1955 under the title "Fire Down There", on his Get Happy album.

On the digital encyclopedia program, Encarta, a clip of "St. Thomas" could be played as an example of Jazz music in the 'Jazz' entry Playlist of songs used on Encarta, including 'St. Thomas' https://open.spotify.com/playlist/16BhFc23UBhJj3J2R492Jr?si=v2Q2pie0RJuAignB0Eutug&pi=zeyOd7PhRYm5A