The St Thomas Story - Sonny Rollins | Jazz Video Guy | Origin of His Classic Composition

 

From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack.

Sonny Rollins explains the origin of his classic composition, Saint Thomas.  The Caribbean music played at home there was al there was all kinds of music played at home I mean there was uh as I mentioned to you before uh fratzwaller I heard him when I was really small on the radio or something but there was all kinds of music at home we used to have this piano with the piano rolls and those guys people I guess like james p johnson you know would be playing those piano roles there was a lot of we had the radio there was all sorts of music on the radio we used to listen every sunday there was a couple of programs uh on called wings over jordan which was a gospel show that came on every sunday morning and that was it for the you know everybody in the community uh wings over jordan uh people of my uh vintage would uh know very well whatever when once I met name uh so there was a lot of music there was a music from a to z my first memories of caribbean music was I think when my mother took me someplace that and the band was there and they were playing uh, that's one i remember that very well because i was sort of a young baby almost and uh it was something a local right around the house or someplace near a house or something so i i recall that very distinctly that uh that i heard that then probably my mother used to sing that i think my mother used to sing that uh you know this this this was sort of a saint saint thomas song as you know later i made my arrangement of it uh was often uh credited as being the the composersly it was it's an adaptation of that uh traditional saint as melodies there was a records i think my mother had some um calypso records also around the house you know so i've heard i heard some of those also well i remember the names of some of these guys i remember i called the lord invader and then i remember a guy called attila the hun then i remember a guy called um because the duke of iron who i later actually saw performing you know at uh park palace so there were a couple of names or those names like that were you know quite colorful if we we might say so i remember those.