Did you know that Sonny Rollins didn’t actually write “St. Thomas”. And that Randy Weston recorded this traditional folk song before Rollins, but under the name of “Fire Down There”?

And another piece of information: Thelonious Monk’s “Japanese Folk Song” wasn’t really a folk song—as the writer was known. But it has entered an oral tradition within Japan.

In this episode you’ll also hear jazz versions of three spirituals: Deep River, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, and Glory Glory. Other traditional tunes are Tiramakhan from Gambia (as interpreted by Daniel Janke), Danny Boy by Chris Botti, and Shelly Manne’s wonderful rendition of Tzena Tzena!

One more tune from that delightful new Fergus McCreadie album, too. It’s not folk, but you’d swear it was a Scottish or Irish Folk tune.