St. Thomas

St. Thomas runs 16 bars in two sections of eight, and the whole tune stays in C. The A section is two matching four-bar phrases: a bar of C6, a bar of Em7 and A7, a bar of Dm7 and G7, and a bar of C6, played twice. The B section starts with Em7♭5, A7, Dm7 and G7, one bar each. Bar 13 moves from C to C7, which pulls to Fmaj7 in bar 14, and an F♯ diminished chord passes up from there. Bar 15 is C over G and then G7, and bar 16 is C7 with a ninth before the A section returns.

The changes under Sonny Rollins's first tenor solo on Saxophone Colossus (1956), transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Lead sheets may differ in a few chords.

Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.

Source: Weimar Jazz Database: Sonny Rollins, St. Thomas

The path starts with the 1956 Sonny Rollins quartet and a long 1972 concert version, then goes back to Randy Weston's 1955 trio. It continues with a vibes quintet with congas, a guitar and bass duo, a piano trio, a vocal with words and a pianoless tenor and trumpet quartet from 2018.

1. 1

   Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing

   Sonny Rollins 1956

   Saxophone Colossus

   C major · 4/4 · latin · 207 bpm (up) · Sonny Rollins's original record

   Listen for

   Rollins's first solo starts at 0:49 and lasts five choruses, so the 16-bar chord pattern comes around five times. Tommy Flanagan on piano and Max Roach on drums also solo.

   Try this

   Play the 16-bar chart in C at a slow tempo, one chord per bar and two chords in the bars that have two. Use plain A7 and G7 if the altered chords are new. Then play it again and count five choruses under Rollins's first solo. Smaller version: play only the eight-bar A section and repeat it.

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   Mark done
2. 2

   Step 2 · Hear it stretched live Now playing

   Sonny Rollins with the Heikki Sarmanto Trio 1972

   Live at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki 1972

   Takes of ten minutes or more · Recorded live

   Listen for

   The take runs 17:11, about ten minutes longer than the 1956 record. Heikki Sarmanto plays a Fender Rhodes electric piano where the 1956 record has a piano.

   Try this

   Tap the 16-bar form along with the first two minutes and mark where each chorus begins. Smaller version: tap along to the first four bars only.

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   Mark done
3. 3

   Step 3 · Hear the tune before Rollins Now playing

   Randy Weston Trio 1955

   “Fire Down There”, Get Happy with the Randy Weston Trio

   Recorded before Rollins

   Listen for

   Piano, bass and drums play it in 2:53, less than half the length of the Rollins record. The tune goes by a different name here, Fire Down There.

   Try this

   Play the chart in C on piano or guitar, then listen to this trio and decide whether its chords match the chart. Smaller version: listen for the bass line only and hum it.

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   Mark done
4. 4

   Step 4 · Hear congas in the band Now playing

   Dave Pike 1962

   Limbo Carnival

   With conga drums

   Listen for

   Ray Barretto's conga and Willie Bobo's drums share the rhythm with the bass. Dave Pike leads on vibes or marimba, and Tommy Flanagan plays piano.

   Try this

   Play the chart's A section with a bass note on beat one and the chord on the off-beats. Smaller version: play only the bass notes, one per bar.

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   Mark done
5. 5

   Step 5 · Hear it with guitar and bass only Now playing

   Jim Hall / Ron Carter Duo 1972

   Alone Together

   Guitar and bass only

   Listen for

   Only guitar and bass play, so each of them carries part of the harmony and the rhythm. The track runs 4:44.

   Try this

   Play the chart on guitar or piano in two layers, a bass note on beat one and a chord on the beats after it. Smaller version: play only the bass note of each chord.

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   Mark done
6. 6

   Step 6 · Hear it as a piano trio Now playing

   Tommy Flanagan, Ron Carter and Tony Williams 1983

   The Master Trio

   Piano, bass and drums only

   Listen for

   Only piano, bass and drums play. Ron Carter's bass solo is full of quotations.

   Try this

   Play the chart in C on piano with roots in the left hand and a three-note chord in the right, one chord per bar. Smaller version: play only the A section, or only the roots.

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   Mark done
7. 7

   Step 7 · Hear it with words Now playing

   Mark Murphy 1981

   “Down St. Thomas Way”, Bop for Kerouac

   Sung with words

   Listen for

   A singer takes the lead, and the words are by Ray Passman and Herb Wasserman.

   Try this

   Hum the melody you know from the Rollins record, then listen to Murphy and notice where his phrases start and end against the 16 bars. Smaller version: follow only the first eight bars.

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   Mark done
8. 8

   Step 8 · Hear a pianoless quartet today Now playing

   Stephen Riley 2018

   Oleo

   C major · 4/4 · funk · 232 bpm · No piano

   Listen for

   With no chord instrument, the two horns talk to each other over bass and drums. Riley on tenor and Magnarelli on trumpet each take a solo.

   Try this

   Play the chart's roots as a bass line and sing or play the melody over it, with no chords. Smaller version: do it for the eight-bar A section only.

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   Mark done

• Sonny Rollins Trio 1959

  Sonny Rollins Trio in Stockholm 1959 - St Thomas

  Sonny Rollins played St.

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• Jim Hall and Ron Carter 1989

  Jim Hall and Friends: Live at Town Hall

  Jim Hall and Ron Carter played St.

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• Dion Parson and 21st Century Band 2015

  St. Thomas

  Drummer Dion Parson, who comes from St.

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