1960 studio album by John Coltrane
Giant Steps is a studio album by
jazz musician
John Coltrane . It was released in February 1960 through
Atlantic Records .
[1]
[2]
[3] This was Coltrane's first album as leader for the label, with which he had signed a new contract the previous year. The record is regarded as one of the most influential jazz albums of all time. Many of its tracks have become practice templates for jazz saxophonists.
[5]
[6] In 2004, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the
Library of Congress to be added to the
National Recording Registry . It attained gold record status in 2018, having sold 500,000 copies.
[7]
Two tracks, "
Naima " and "Syeeda's Song Flute", are respectively named after Coltrane's wife at the time and her daughter, whom he adopted. A third, "
Mr. P.C. ", takes its name from the initials of bassist
Paul Chambers , who played on the album. A fourth, "Cousin Mary", is named in honor of Mary Lyerly, Coltrane's younger cousin.
Background
In 1959,
Miles Davis 's business manager Harold Lovett negotiated a
record contract for Coltrane with Atlantic, the terms of which included a $7,000 annual guarantee (equivalent to $73,164 in 2023).
[8] 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.
[9] Coltrane was dissatisfied with the results of this session with
Cedar Walton and
Lex Humphries , and hence they were not used for the album,
[10] 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 .
[11] 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 .
[12]
Coltrane's improvisation exemplifies the 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 .
[13] The
Giant Steps chord progression consists of a distinctive set of chords that create key centers a major third apart. Jazz musicians ever since have used it as a practice piece, its difficult chord changes presenting a "kind of ultimate harmonic challenge", and serving as a gateway into modern jazz improvisation. Several pieces on this album went on to become
jazz standards , most prominently "Naima" and "
Giant Steps ".
[10]
[14]
Reception and legacy
The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested "Core Collection" calling it "Trane's first genuinely iconic record."
[23] In 2003, the album was ranked number 102 on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ,
[24] 103 in a 2012 revised list,
[25] and 232 in a 2020 revised list.
[26]
In 2000 it was voted number 764 in
Colin Larkin 's
All Time Top 1000 Albums .
[27]
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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , a lifetime jazz lover, titled his autobiography Giant Steps both as a play on his 7'2" height and in tribute to the Coltrane album.
Track listing
Side one Title Date recorded 1. "
Giant Steps " May 5, 1959 4:43 2. "Cousin Mary" May 5, 1959 5:45 3. "
Countdown " May 4, 1959 2:21 4. "Spiral" May 4, 1959 5:56
Side two Title Date recorded 5. "Syeeda's Song Flute" May 5, 1959 7:00 6. "
Naima " December 2, 1959 4:21 7. "
Mr. P.C. " May 5, 1959 6:57
1987 CD reissue bonus tracks Title Date recorded 8. "Giant Steps" (alternate version 1) March 26, 1959 3:41 9. "Naima" (alternate version 1) March 26, 1959 4:27 10. "Cousin Mary" (alternate take) May 5, 1959 5:54 11. "Countdown" (alternate take) May 4, 1959 4:33 12. "Syeeda's Song Flute" (alternate take) May 5, 1959 7:02
1998 CD reissue additional bonus tracks Title Date recorded 13. "Giant Steps" (alternate version 2) March 26, 1959 3:32 14. "Naima" (alternate version 2) March 26, 1959 3:37 15. "Giant Steps" (alternate take) May 5, 1959 5:00
Personnel
Thursday, March 26, 1959 (Tracks 8, 9, 13, 14)
[28]
Monday, May 4, 1959 (Tracks 3, 4, 11) & Tuesday, May 5, 1959 (Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 12 and 15)
Wednesday, December 2, 1959 (Track 6)
Production
Release history
1960 – Atlantic Records SD 1311, vinyl record
1987 – 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
2020 – Atlantic Records R2 625106/603497848393, 60 Years Deluxe Edition, 2 CDs (Remastered Album + Outtakes)
References
^
a
b
"February Album Releases" (PDF) .
The Cash Box . New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. February 13, 1960. Retrieved June 18, 2019 .
^
a
b
"New Darin Album" (PDF) .
The Cash Box . New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. January 23, 1960. Retrieved June 18, 2019 .
^
a
b DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Schmaler, Wolf; Wild, David (2013).
Porter, Lewis (ed.).
The John Coltrane Reference . New York/Abingdon:
Routledge . p. 564.
ISBN
9780415634632 . Retrieved January 2, 2020 .
^ Atlantic Masters CD Edition Liner Notes, 1998
^ Ben Ratliff. Coltrane: The Story of A Sound . New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 2007.
ISBN
978-0-374-12606-3 . pp. 53-54.
^
Lewis Porter . John Coltrane: His Life and Music .
Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press, 1999.
ISBN
0-472-10161-7 , p. 145.
^ "What's News".
The New York City Jazz Record . No. 202. January 2019. p. 5.
^
Lewis Porter . John Coltrane: His Life and Music .
Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press, 1999.
ISBN
0-472-10161-7 , pp. 117-8.
^ Porter, p. 145, pp. 359-60.
^
a
b
Nisenson, Eric (2009). Ascension: John Coltrane and his Quest . New York:
Hachette Books . p. 171.
ISBN
9780786750955 .
^ Porter, p. 360.
^ Giant Steps. Atlantic R2 75203,
liner notes , p. 18.
^ Porter, pp. 145-148
^
"Giant Steps (1959)" . JazzStandards.com .
Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2019 .
^
Allmusic review
^
Gleason, Ralph J. (March 31, 1960). "John Coltrane: Giant Steps ".
DownBeat . Vol. 27, no. 7. p. 26.
^
Larkin, Colin (2007).
Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.).
Oxford University Press .
ISBN
978-0195313734 .
^
Hull, Tom (n.d.).
"Jazz (1940s-50s)" . tomhull.com . Retrieved March 3, 2020 .
^
"Penguin Guide to Jazz review" . Archived from
the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2009 .
^
Rolling Stone review
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide . US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46.
ISBN
0-394-72643-X .
^
"Virgin Encyclopedia review" . Archived from
the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2009 .
^
Cook, Richard ;
Brian Morton (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 .
^
"102) Giant Steps" .
Rolling Stone . New York. November 2003. Archived from
the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2013 .
^
"500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time" .
Rolling Stone . 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2019 .
^
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" . Rolling Stone . September 22, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2021 .
^
Larkin, Colin (2000).
All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.).
Virgin Books . p. 241.
ISBN
0-7535-0493-6 .
^ Atlantic Masters Edition CD Liner Notes 1998
External links
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, except where noted.
Albums as leader or co-leader With
Pepper Adams With
Kenny Burrell With
John Coltrane With
Art Farmer With
Ella Fitzgerald With
Curtis Fuller With
Coleman Hawkins With
Milt Jackson With
J.J. Johnson With
Sonny Rollins With others
Tentets (
Franco Ambrosetti , 1985)
Boss Tenor (
Gene Ammons , 1960)
Big Brass (
Benny Bailey , 1960)
Bash! (
Dave Bailey , 1961)
Who Is Gary Burton? (
Gary Burton , 1962)
Jazz Lab (
Donald Byrd , 1957)
Carter, Gillespie Inc. (
Benny Carter and
Dizzy Gillespie , 1976)
Paul Chambers Quintet (1957)
More Party Time (
Arnett Cobb , 1960)
Movin' Right Along (Arnett Cobb, 1960)
Rhythm in Mind (
Steve Coleman , 1991)
Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool) (
Sonny Criss , 1968)
Straight Ahead (Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, 1976)
Collectors' Items (
Miles Davis , 1956)
Quiet Kenny (
Kenny Dorham , 1959)
The Kenny Dorham Memorial Album (1960 [1976])
Opening Remarks (
Ted Dunbar , 1978)
Patented by Edison (
Harry "Sweets" Edison , 1960)
The Book Cooks (
Booker Ervin , 1960)
The Song Book (Booker Ervin, 1964)
Chromatic Palette (
Tal Farlow , 1981)
The Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 (1975)
Gettin' with It (
Benny Golson , 1959)
Free (Benny Golson, 1962)
The Panther! (
Dexter Gordon , 1970)
The Swingin'est (
Bennie Green and Gene Ammons, 1958)
Grey's Mood (
Al Grey , 1973–75)
It's About Time (
Jimmy Hamilton , 1961)
Can't Help Swinging (Jimmy Hamilton, 1961)
Drum Suite (
Slide Hampton , 1962)
Out of the Afternoon (
Roy Haynes and
Roland Kirk , 1962)
Really Big! (
Jimmy Heath , 1960)
New Picture (Jimmy Heath, 1985)
Porgy & Bess (
Joe Henderson , released 1997)
The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard (1962)
Mirage (
Bobby Hutcherson , 1991)
Bossa Nova Plus (
Willis Jackson , 1962)
Desert Winds (
Illinois Jacquet , 1962)
Budd Johnson and the Four Brass Giants (1960)
Let's Swing! (
Budd Johnson , 1960)
Heart to Heart (
Elvin Jones , 1980)
Blues for Dracula (
Philly Joe Jones , 1958)
Detroit – New York Junction (
Thad Jones , 1956)
Mad Thad (Thad Jones, 1956–57)
A Story Tale (
Clifford Jordan and
Sonny Red , 1961)
The Adventurer (Clifford Jordan, 1978)
Booker Little 4 and Max Roach (1958)
Booker Little (1960)
Vocalese (
The Manhattan Transfer , 1985)
Flute Flight (
Herbie Mann and
Bobby Jaspar , 1957)
Flute Soufflé (Herbie Mann and Bobby Jaspar, 1957)
Dusty Blue (
Howard McGhee , 1960)
Reincarnation of a Lovebird (
Charles Mingus , 1960)
De Lawd's Blues (
Billy Mitchell , 1980)
Smooth as the Wind (
Blue Mitchell , 1960–61)
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960)
Jeru (
Gerry Mulligan , 1962)
Jive at Five (
Joe Newman , 1960)
Good 'n' Groovy (Joe Newman with
Frank Foster , 1960)
Joe's Hap'nin's (Joe Newman, 1961)
Straight Life (
Art Pepper , 1979)
The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi (1956)
Limbo Carnival (
Dave Pike , 1962)
Dave Pike Plays the Jazz Version of Oliver! (Dave Pike, 1962)
Pony's Express (
Pony Poindexter , 1962)
Keep Swingin' (
Julian Priester , 1960)
Wisteria (
Jimmy Raney , 1985)
Swingin' with Pee Wee (
Pee Wee Russell , 1960)
Stable Mates (
A. K. Salim , 1957)
Here Comes Louis Smith (
Louis Smith , 1958)
Roots (
Idrees Sulieman , 1957)
Tate-a-Tate (
Buddy Tate , 1960)
Color Changes (
Clark Terry , 1960)
Lucky Thompson Plays Happy Days Are Here Again (1965)
Stan "The Man" Turrentine (1960)
ZT's Blues (
Stanley Turrentine , 1961)
The Frank Wess Quartet (1960)
Southern Comfort (
Frank Wess , 1962)
California Soul (
Gerald Wilson , 1968)
Pairing Off (
Phil Woods , 1956)
Rights of Swing (Phil Woods, 1961)
Year(s) indicated are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader As sideman with
Art Blakey &
The Jazz Messengers With
Art Farmer (or where stated),
Benny Golson &
The Jazztet With
Eddie Harris With
Billy Higgins With
Milt Jackson With
Etta James With
Clifford Jordan With
Blue Mitchell With
Houston Person With others
God Bless Jug and Sonny (
Gene Ammons &
Sonny Stitt , 1973)
Left Bank Encores (Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt, 1973)
Something for Lester (
Ray Brown , 1977)
Slow Drag (
Donald Byrd , 1967)
The Almoravid (
Joe Chambers , 1971–73)
Somethin's Cookin' (
Junior Cook , 1981)
Broken Shadows (
Ornette Coleman , 1971–72)
Katumbo (Dance) (Johnny Coles, 1971)
Giant Steps (
John Coltrane , 1959)
Up, Up and Away (
Sonny Criss , 1967)
The Beat Goes On! (Sonny Criss, 1968)
This Is the Moment! (
Kenny Dorham , 1958)
Blue Spring (Kenny Dorham &
Cannonball Adderley , 1959)
It's All Right! (
Teddy Edwards , 1967)
Soul Trombone (
Curtis Fuller , 1961)
Smokin' (Curtis Fuller, 1972)
Tangerine (
Dexter Gordon , 1972)
Generation (Dexter Gordon, 1972)
Bush Dance (
Johnny Griffin , 1978)
Roots (
Slide Hampton , 1985)
The Quota (
Jimmy Heath , 1961)
Triple Threat (Jimmy Heath, 1962)
Mode for Joe (
Joe Henderson , 1966)
Hub Cap (
Freddie Hubbard , 1961)
Here to Stay (Freddie Hubbard, 1962)
The Body & the Soul (Freddie Hubbard,1963)
Bolivia (Freddie Hubbard, 1991)
Highway One (
Bobby Hutcherson , 1978)
Farewell Keystone (Bobby Hutcherson, 1982)
Really Livin' (
J.J. Johnson , 1959)
J.J. Inc. (J.J. Johnson, 1960)
Save Your Love for Me (
Etta Jones , 1986)
Advance! (
Philly Joe Jones , 1978)
Drum Song (Philly Joe Jones, 1978)
Seven Minds (
Sam Jones , 1974)
Something in Common (Sam Jones, 1974–77)
First Class Kloss! (
Eric Kloss , 1967)
Abbey Is Blue (
Abbey Lincoln , 1959)
Strings! (
Pat Martino , 1967)
From This Moment On! (
Charles McPherson , 1968)
Horizons (Charles McPherson, 1968)
Caramba! (
Lee Morgan , 1968)
The Sixth Sense (Lee Morgan, 1968)
The Mode (
Sonny Red , 1961)
Sonny Red (1971)
Setting Standards (
Woody Shaw , 1983)
For Losers (
Archie Shepp , 1968–69)
Kwanza (Archie Shepp, 1968–69)
Now Is the Time (
Idrees Sulieman , 1976)
Goodbye Yesterday (
Lucky Thompson , 1972)
Concert: Friday the 13th – Cook County Jail (Lucky Thompson, 1972)
I Offer You (Lucky Thompson, 1973)
Another Story (
Stanley Turrentine , 1969)
Up Front (
David Williams , 1986)