LP+
£14.99 GBP

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 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.

Tracklisting

  • Giant Steps
  • Cousin Mary
  • Countdown
  • Spiral
  • Syeeda's Song Flute
  • Naima
  • Mr. P. C.
Citizen Of Glass
£24.99 GBP
No Singles
£17.99 GBP
Nirvana
£25.99 GBP
Come Away With ESG
£19.99 GBP
The Remote Part
£22.99 GBP
Chutes Too Narrow
£19.99 GBP
Thirteen
£18.99 GBP
Blue Banisters
£34.99 GBP
Crazy Rhythms
£17.99 GBP £22.99
Wild Mood Swings
£28.99 GBP
Harry Pussy
£15.99 GBP
Charmed Life
£19.99 GBP
Liquid Skin
£21.99 GBP
The Age Of Quarrel
£28.99 GBP
Brain Telephone
£22.99 GBP
IV (White Vinyl)
£21.99 GBP
Fire From Heaven
£19.99 GBP
Left Hand
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Candle Power
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Galaxilympics
£14.99 GBP £21.99
3
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Someone To Watch Over Me
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Yellow House
£21.99 GBP
Favourite People
£19.99 GBP
Bad Advice Good People
£14.99 GBP £21.99
The Dragon Flies Away
£14.99 GBP £21.99
We (Picture Disc)
£19.99 GBP
Choose Life
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Gulp!
£19.99 GBP
Angel
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Private Sector
£14.99 GBP £21.99
Drecksound
£14.99 GBP £21.99
(Self-Titled)
£14.99 GBP