John Coltrane – Giant Steps
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John Coltrane – tenor saxophone [click here to see more vinyl featuring John Coltrane]
Paul Chambers – bass [click here to see more vinyl featuring Paul Chambers]
Tommy Flanagan – piano (A1 to B1, B3) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Tommy Flanagan]
Art Taylor – drums (A1 to B1, B3) [Click here to see more vinyl featuring Art Taylor]
Wynton Kelly - piano (B2) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Wynton Kelly]
Jimmy Cobb - drums (B2) [click here to see other vinyl featuring Jimmy Cobb]
Written by John Coltrane
1 LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : unspecified
Label : Rhino Records
Original Label : Atlantic
Recorded Monday, May 4, 1959 (B1-2), Tuesday, May 5, 1959 (A1-2, C1, D2), Wednesday, December 2, 1959 (D1) at Atlantic Studios, New York City
Engineered by Tom Dowd, Phil Lehle
Produced by Nesuhi Ertegün
Photography by Lee Friedlander
Cover design by Marvin Israel
Liner notes by Nat Hentoff
Originally released in February 1960
Reissued in March 2024
Tracks :
Side A:
- Giant Steps
- Cousin Mary
- Countdown
- Spiral
Side B:
- Syeeda's Song Flute
- Naima
- Mr. P.C.
Awards:
Part of Penguin Guide to Jazz’s Core Collection
Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time – Ranked #232
Number 764 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums
Reviews:
“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 bandmember 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 alternate non-Bill Evans lineup featured on "Freddie the Freeloader" 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 Kelly-version of 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.” Review by Lindsay Planer
"With characteristic humility, Coltrane said the title of this album referred to the loping instrumental gait of his bassist, Paul Chambers. In fact, the LP was one of two giant steps Coltrane himself made in 1959: his playing on Miles Davis' epochal Kind of Blue and the recording of this, Coltrane's Atlantic debut. On seven originals, he played with a heated melodic enthusiasm - flying clusters of notes - that declared new possibilities for jazz improvisation and predicted the ferocious, harmonically open lyricism of his mid-Sixties records on Impulse. 'Mr. P.C.,' another nod to Chambers, is now a stalwart of the contemporary jazz repertoire." - www.rollingstone.com
Ratings :
AllMusic : 5 / 5 , Discogs : 4,64 / 5