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Giant Steps

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For other uses, see Giant Steps (disambiguation).
Untitled

Giant Steps is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1960 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD 1311. His first album for his new label Atlantic, it is the breakthrough album for Coltrane as a leader, and many of its tracks have become practice templates for jazz saxophonists.[1][2] In 2004, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Background

In 1959, Miles Davis' business manager Harold Lovett negotiated a record contract for Coltrane with Atlantic, the terms including a $7000 annual guarantee.[3] Initial sessions for this album, the second recording date for Coltrane under his new contract after a January 15 date led by Milt Jackson, took place on March 26, 1959.[4] The results of this session with Cedar Walton and Lex Humphries were not used, but appeared on subsequent compilations and reissues. Principal recording for the album took place on May 4 and 5, two weeks after Coltrane had participated in the final session for Kind of Blue.[5] The track "Naima" was recorded on December 2 with Coltrane's bandmates, the rhythm section from the Miles Davis Quintet, who would provide the backing for most of his next album, Coltrane Jazz.[6]

The recording exemplifies Coltrane's melodic phrasing that came to be known as sheets of sound, and features his explorations into third-related chord movements that came to be known as Coltrane changes.[7] Jazz musicians continue to use the Giant Steps chord progression, which consists of a peculiar set of chords that often move in thirds, as a practice piece and as a gateway into modern jazz improvisation. The ability to play over the "Giant Steps" cycle remains to this day one of the benchmark standards by which a jazz musician's improvising skill is measured.[citation needed] Several pieces on this album went on to become jazz standards, most prominently "Naima" and "Giant Steps."[8]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[9]
Down Beat[10]
Jazz Times(favorable)[11]
Penguin Guide to Jazz[12]
Rhapsody(favorable)[13]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Virgin Encyclopedia[16]
The Vortex(favorable)[17]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested "Core Collection" calling it "Trane's first genuinely iconic record."[18] In 2003, the album was ranked number 102 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

On March 3, 1998, Rhino Records reissued Giant Steps as part of its Atlantic 50th Anniversary Jazz Gallery series. Included were eight bonus tracks, five of which had appeared in 1975 on the Atlantic compilation Alternate Takes, the remaining three earlier issued on The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings in 1995.

Track listing

Side one

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Giant Steps"John Coltrane4:43
2."Cousin Mary"John Coltrane5:45
3."Countdown"John Coltrane2:21
4."Spiral"John Coltrane5:56

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Syeeda's Song Flute"John Coltrane7:00
2."Naima"John Coltrane4:21
3."Mr. P.C."John Coltrane6:57

1998 reissue bonus tracks

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Giant Steps" (alternate version 1)John Coltrane3:41
9."Naima" (alternate version 1)John Coltrane4:27
10."Cousin Mary" (alternate take)John Coltrane5:54
11."Countdown" (alternate take)John Coltrane4:33
12."Syeeda's Song Flute" (alternate take)John Coltrane7:02
13."Giant Steps" (alternate version 2)John Coltrane3:32
14."Naima" (alternate version 2)John Coltrane3:37
15."Giant Steps" (alternate take)John Coltrane5:00

Personnel

Production personnel

Release history

  • 1960 — Atlantic Records SD 1311, vinyl record
  • 1990 — Atlantic Records, first generation compact disc
  • 1994 — Mobile Fidelity Gold CD
  • 1998 — Rhino Records R2 75203, Deluxe Edition compact disc and 180-gram vinyl record

See also

References

  1. ^ Ben Ratliff. Coltrane: The Story of A Sound. New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux; 2007. ISBN 978-0-374-12606-3. pp. 53-54.
  2. ^ Lewis Porter. John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN 0-472-10161-7, p. 145.
  3. ^ Lewis Porter. John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN 0-472-10161-7, pp. 117-8.
  4. ^ Porter, p. 145, pp. 359-60.
  5. ^ Porter, p. 360.
  6. ^ Giant Steps. Atlantic R2 75203, liner notes, p. 18.
  7. ^ Porter, pp. 145-148
  8. ^ Jazz Standards website retrieved 7 August 2011
  9. ^ Allmusic review
  10. ^ Down Beat review
  11. ^ Jazz Times review
  12. ^ Penguin Guide to Jazz review
  13. ^ Rhapsody review
  14. ^ Rolling Stone review
  15. ^ Rolling Stone review
  16. ^ Virgin Encyclopedia review
  17. ^ The Vortex review
  18. ^ Cook, Richard (2006) [1992]. "John Coltrane". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th. ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 269. ISBN 0-14-102327-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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