History will undoubtedly enshrine this disc as a watershed the likes of which may never truly be appreciated. Giant Steps bore the double-edged sword of furthering the cause of the music as well as delivering it to an increasingly mainstream audience. Although this was John Coltrane's debut for Atlantic, he was concurrently performing and recording with Miles Davis. Within the space of less than three weeks, Coltrane would complete his work with Davis and company on another genre-defining disc, Kind of Blue, before commencing his efforts on this one. Coltrane (tenor sax) is flanked by essentially two different trios. Recording commenced in early May of 1959 with a pair of sessions that featured Tommy Flanagan (piano) and Art Taylor (drums), as well as Paul Chambers -- who was the only band member other than Coltrane to have performed on every date. When recording resumed in December of that year, Wynton Kelly (piano) and Jimmy Cobb (drums) were instated -- replicating the lineup featured on Kind of Blue, sans Miles Davis of course. At the heart of these recordings, however, is the laser-beam focus of Coltrane's tenor solos. All seven pieces issued on the original Giant Steps are likewise Coltrane compositions. He was, in essence, beginning to rewrite the jazz canon with material that would be centered on solos -- the 180-degree antithesis of the art form up to that point. These arrangements would create a place for the solo to become infinitely more compelling. This would culminate in a frenetic performance style that noted jazz journalist Ira Gitler accurately dubbed "sheets of sound." Coltrane's polytonal torrents extricate the amicable and otherwise cordial solos that had begun decaying the very exigency of the genre -- turning it into the equivalent of easy listening. He wastes no time as the disc's title track immediately indicates a progression from which there would be no looking back. Line upon line of highly cerebral improvisation snake between the melody and solos, practically fusing the two. The resolute intensity of "Countdown" does more to modernize jazz in 141 seconds than many artists do in their entire careers. Tellingly, the contrasting and ultimately pastoral "Naima" was the last tune to be recorded, and is the only track on the original long-player to feature the Kind of Blue quartet. What is lost in tempo is more than recouped in intrinsic melodic beauty. Both Giant Steps [Deluxe Edition] and the seven-disc Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings offer more comprehensive presentations of these sessions.
...I'm working outside and a Yogi/ Palmist who, while wearing a turban looked a lot like the Beatles' guru "*Maharishi Mahesh*":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi, just read me a fortune...I'm open to anything (since this editorial thing has gotten hairy and grown teeth, yeah, still finishing up refinements)...he told me I had a good heart...have had ups and downs over the past...
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Just finished all my examinations yesterday. As soon as I walked out of that room I was overcome by the incredible need to listen to Coltrane. I rode my cycle home intent on having a freak out kinetic dance party. (A two year old girl does not know that you are not supposed to dance to John Coltrane.)So I came home and little one is laying in my wife's lap with 103 fever. Not what I had envisio...
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...I'm working outside and a Yogi/ Palmist who, while wearing a turban looked a lot like the Beatles' guru "*Maharishi Mahesh*":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi, just read me a fortune...I'm open to anything (since this editorial thing has gotten hairy and grown teeth, yeah, still finishing up refinements)...he told me I had a good heart...have had ups and downs over the past...
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Well, the Giants have finally gotten revenge for the 1961 and 1962 NFL championships. In their honor, I thought I'd offer a little John Coltrane.The video features animated musical notation of Coltrane's solo, which gives a sense of what it would be like to try to sight-read the piece. No wonder people get lost trying to play this.
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As promised, here's the original Giant Steps. A notoriously difficult tune to solo on due to the fast changes involved. Each note in the head = new chord...
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 "Giant Steps")
