Giant Steps
Giant Steps is a landmark studio album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, released in January 1960 by Atlantic Records.[1] The album features Coltrane performing on tenor saxophone across seven tracks, primarily accompanied by pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor, with pianist Wynton Kelly and drummer Jimmy Cobb joining for the ballad "Naima."[2] Recorded in New York City during 1959, it exemplifies Coltrane's hard bop style while introducing groundbreaking harmonic innovations that have influenced jazz improvisation for decades.[1] The title track, "Giant Steps," recorded on May 5, 1959, at Atlantic Studios, is a 16-bar composition that cycles through 26 chords across three keys—B major, G major, and E♭ major—using major third modulations, a technique now known as "Coltrane changes."[2] This progression, inspired by Coltrane's studies with Thelonious Monk and his work with Miles Davis, challenged musicians with its rapid shifts and became a staple in jazz education as a test of technical prowess and creativity.[2] Other notable tracks include the uptempo "Countdown," a reharmonization of Miles Davis's "Tune Up," and the lyrical "Naima," a waltz-time tribute to Coltrane's first wife, recorded on December 2, 1959.[3] The album's rhythm section provides a solid yet responsive foundation, allowing Coltrane to explore dense sheets of sound and pentatonic patterns that foreshadow his later modal and spiritual explorations.[1] Critically acclaimed upon release, Giant Steps was hailed by DownBeat magazine as "one of the important ones" for its blend of accessibility and innovation, bridging Coltrane's earlier quintet work with Davis and his quartet era with McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones.[2] Its influence extends beyond jazz, impacting rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix and serving as a precursor to Coltrane's 1965 masterpiece A Love Supreme.[1] With a total runtime of approximately 37 minutes, the album remains a cornerstone of the jazz canon, celebrated for its emotional depth—from familial tributes like "Cousin Mary" and "Mr. P.C." to romantic introspection—while pushing the boundaries of harmonic possibility.[4]Background
Conception and Influences
In early 1959, following his tenure as a key member of Miles Davis's quintet, John Coltrane transitioned from the independent label Prestige Records to Atlantic Records, seeking greater artistic autonomy and financial security to support his evolving musical vision.[5] This move came after Coltrane had fulfilled his obligations to Prestige, where recordings were often produced under tight schedules and limited resources, prompting his desire for a more supportive environment that allowed deeper exploration of his ideas.[5] With the assistance of a lawyer, Coltrane established Jowcol Music to manage his publishing rights, marking a professional step toward independence during this period.[5] Coltrane signed a multi-album contract with Atlantic Records in 1959, negotiated in part by Miles Davis's business manager Harold Lovett, which provided an annual guarantee of $7,000—equivalent to approximately $75,506 in 2024 dollars—reflecting the label's investment in his rising prominence.[6] Atlantic, known for its blend of R&B and jazz releases under executives like Nesuhi Ertegun, offered Coltrane the stability to experiment beyond the constraints of his previous label.[5] This agreement enabled him to focus on innovative compositions during a pivotal career phase, just after contributing to landmark sessions that shaped his harmonic approach.[5] A significant influence on Giant Steps stemmed from Coltrane's immersion in modal jazz, particularly through his participation in the 1959 recording of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, which emphasized scales over chord changes for expanded improvisational freedom.[5] Coltrane later reflected that Davis's modal framework "gave me plenty of freedom...I found it easy to apply harmonic ideas that I had," inspiring him to push beyond traditional jazz standards toward greater structural complexity in his own work.[5] This exposure fueled his ambition to develop new ways of navigating harmony, setting the conceptual foundation for the album's bold explorations.[2] The album's track titles also reveal personal touches from Coltrane's life in 1959, including dedications that humanized his artistic output amid professional transitions. "Naima" honors his first wife, Naima Grubbs, whom he married in 1955 and who symbolized emotional grounding during his intense creative period.[5] Similarly, "Mr. P.C." pays tribute to bassist Paul Chambers, Coltrane's longtime collaborator from the Davis quintet, acknowledging the interpersonal bonds that influenced his musical partnerships.[5] These elements underscore how Giant Steps emerged from a confluence of personal stability and professional ambition.[5]Pre-Recording Preparations
Prior to the principal recording sessions for Giant Steps, John Coltrane undertook an initial exploratory session at Atlantic Studios in New York City on March 26, 1959, as part of his contractual obligations with the label. This date featured Coltrane on tenor saxophone, alongside pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Lex Humphries, and included multiple takes of emerging compositions such as "Giant Steps" and "Naima," performed at a slower tempo than the final versions.[7][2] Coltrane expressed dissatisfaction with the outcomes, deeming them unsatisfactory due to Walton's challenges in navigating the complex, rapidly shifting chords, which contributed to a lack of overall cohesion in the performances.[8] As a result, the material from this session was discarded for the album and remained unreleased until later compilations in the 1970s.[7] Following his contributions to the recording of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue in early 1959, where Coltrane had contributed to a modal jazz approach, he intensified his personal practice routines to push beyond those boundaries, dedicating 10 to 12 hours daily to technical exercises focused on harmony and chord progressions.[8] Drawing inspiration from Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, Coltrane composed new material emphasizing major third-related key shifts and rapid chord changes—such as the 26 chords in 16 bars of the title track—to rigorously challenge his improvisational capabilities and expand harmonic possibilities in jazz.[2] These preparations reflected his drive to evolve from modal simplicity toward more structurally demanding frameworks. In selecting the repertoire, Coltrane aimed to demonstrate his technical and compositional prowess by blending ambitious originals like "Giant Steps," "Naima," "Cousin Mary," and "Syeeda's Song Flute" with reinterpretations of standards such as "Body and Soul," which he reharmonized using his innovative chord cycles to bridge traditional song forms with cutting-edge improvisation.[2][9] Coltrane collaborated closely with Atlantic producer Nesuhi Ertegun to shape the album's vision, positioning Giant Steps as a deliberate pivot from the modal restraint of Kind of Blue toward a fusion of hard bop energy and avant-garde harmonic experimentation, intended to showcase his quartet's precision and innovation.[2]Recording and Production
Studio Sessions
The principal recording sessions for Giant Steps took place on May 4 and 5, 1959, at Atlantic Studios in New York City, where John Coltrane and his quartet captured the majority of the album's tracks in an intensive two-day period, building on his rigorous pre-session practice of the complex harmonic structures.[3] These sessions, engineered by Tom Dowd and Phil Iihle, utilized multi-track recording technology typical of Atlantic's advanced facilities, allowing for the capture of Coltrane's rapid improvisations and the quartet's interplay, with the original mono mixes preserving the dense, immediate sound of the performances.[10] Coltrane's preparation enabled the group to complete master takes efficiently, though the fast tempos—such as the title track's approximate 300 beats per minute—posed significant challenges, particularly for pianist Tommy Flanagan, who had limited rehearsal time and provided sparse comping behind Coltrane's solos due to his unfamiliarity with the "Coltrane changes."[7] An additional session occurred on December 2, 1959, also at Atlantic Studios, specifically to record the ballad "Naima," featuring Coltrane on tenor saxophone with the rhythm section from Miles Davis's quintet—pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb—for a warmer, more subdued texture that contrasted the album's energetic uptempo pieces.[3] This later date addressed Coltrane's dissatisfaction with earlier attempts at the track from preliminary sessions, allowing for a more intimate rendition dedicated to his then-wife, Naima.[7] Engineer Tom Dowd again oversaw the recording, maintaining consistency with the prior sessions' technical approach. Throughout the May sessions, Coltrane pursued multiple takes to refine the "sheets of sound" technique, layering rapid note clusters for a fuller, more intense sonic density, which required precise editing in post-production by producer Nesuhi Ertegun to select and sequence the final masters from the original tapes.[2] Ertegun's involvement ensured the album's cohesive flow, balancing Coltrane's innovative harmonic explorations with the quartet's supportive framework, while Flanagan's minimal piano presence—often limited to chordal outlines—highlighted the saxophonist's dominance without overwhelming the mix.[7] The use of original session tapes in subsequent reissues has preserved these dynamics, underscoring the sessions' role in defining Coltrane's breakthrough as a leader.[3]Personnel and Contributions
The personnel for Giant Steps primarily consisted of John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, who led all recording sessions and composed every track on the album. The core rhythm section for the May 4 and 5, 1959, sessions—which produced the majority of the album's content, including "Giant Steps," "Countdown," "Spiral," "Cousin Mary," "Syeeda's Song Flute," and "Mr. P.C."—featured Tommy Flanagan on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums.[8] An initial session on March 26, 1959, included Coltrane alongside Cedar Walton on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Lex Humphries on drums, but none of the takes from this date were used in the final release.[7] The ballad "Naima" was captured during a separate session on December 2, 1959, with Coltrane joined by Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums.[3] Paul Chambers served as the sole consistent bassist across all sessions, delivering steady walking bass lines that anchored the album's rapid tempos and complex harmonic progressions, while also contributing thoughtful solos, such as on "Syeeda's Song Flute."[11] His empathetic playing provided structural support for Coltrane's intense improvisations, maintaining momentum without overpowering the foreground. Art Taylor's crisp, discreet drumming on the May tracks complemented the harmonic shifts, offering a solid yet unobtrusive pulse that allowed the saxophone lines to propel forward, as evident in his driving intro to "Countdown."[8] Tommy Flanagan's piano work established the harmonic foundation through economical comping, though he navigated the demanding "Coltrane changes" with some adaptation, adding flowing yet concise solos that balanced the session's high energy.[7] For "Naima," Wynton Kelly's piano introduced a warmer, more swinging texture drawn from his recent experience in Miles Davis's group, enhancing the track's intimate ballad quality with tasteful chord voicings. Jimmy Cobb's subtle brushwork and steady grooves on drums further contributed to this relaxed backdrop, creating a contrast to the album's faster-paced selections and allowing Coltrane's lyrical melody to shine.[3][11]Musical Innovations
Coltrane Changes
The Coltrane changes, also known as the Coltrane cycle, constitute a harmonic progression characterized by a sequence of major thirds—such as from B major to G major to E-flat major—interspersed with dominant seventh chords that cycle through each key center, resulting in 26 chords across 16 bars in the title track of Giant Steps.[2][9] This structure enables rapid modulation between distantly related keys, creating a symmetrical and chromatic framework that challenges improvisers to navigate frequent tonal shifts.[12] The origins of the Coltrane changes trace to John Coltrane's intensive study of Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns (1947), where he encountered cyclic patterns involving major-third intervals, such as pattern #286, which outlines dominant-tonic cadences in a major-thirds cycle nearly identical to the harmonic foundation of "Giant Steps."[13][12] Coltrane applied these concepts to jazz harmony, transposing and adapting Slonimsky's exercises—originally designed for classical composition— to facilitate quick modulations that expand beyond traditional ii-V-I progressions, thereby influencing his compositional approach in the late 1950s.[13][12] In Giant Steps, the Coltrane changes underpin the title track's 16-bar form, driving swift key changes that underscore the piece's approximately 290 beats per minute tempo and demand sophisticated improvisational agility from performers, as the cycle tonicizes three primary key centers (B, G, and E-flat major) in both descending and ascending motions.[9][](https:// theory.esm.rochester.edu/integral/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/INTEGRAL_24_waters.pdf)[14] This application not only heightened harmonic density but also established a new paradigm in jazz theory, inspiring subsequent works and pedagogical methods for negotiating chromatic third relations.[9][12] The mathematical structure of the progression follows a simplified cycle of major-third intervals, exemplified in the title track as:This sequence repeats the major-third cycle, incorporating ii-V substitutions within each key to propel the harmony forward (with two additional implied changes in standard notation to reach 26).[15][13]|BΔ⁷ | B⁷ | EΔ⁷ | E⁷ | AΔ⁷ | A⁷ | DΔ⁷ | D⁷ | |GΔ⁷ | G⁷ | CΔ⁷ | C⁷ | FΔ⁷ | F⁷ | B♭Δ⁷ | B♭⁷ | |EΔ⁷ | E⁷ | AΔ⁷ | A⁷ | DΔ⁷ | D⁷ | GΔ⁷ ||BΔ⁷ | B⁷ | EΔ⁷ | E⁷ | AΔ⁷ | A⁷ | DΔ⁷ | D⁷ | |GΔ⁷ | G⁷ | CΔ⁷ | C⁷ | FΔ⁷ | F⁷ | B♭Δ⁷ | B♭⁷ | |EΔ⁷ | E⁷ | AΔ⁷ | A⁷ | DΔ⁷ | D⁷ | GΔ⁷ |
Sheets of Sound and Improvisation
The "sheets of sound" technique, coined by jazz critic Ira Gitler in the 1958 liner notes for Coltrane's album Soultrane, refers to Coltrane's innovative improvisational approach characterized by dense cascades of rapid arpeggios, scales, and long multinote lines that create a thick, wall-like sonic texture.[16] This style evolved from Coltrane's earlier bebop influences but marked a shift toward vertical improvisation, where he traced out chord structures at blistering speeds, often sounding like glissandi due to the fluid grouping of notes on strong beats.[17] In Coltrane's own words, these "long, rapid lines" stemmed from playing the entire scale of each chord quickly, emphasizing rhythmic accents in clusters rather than single notes, which allowed for greater harmonic density without losing momentum.[17] Coltrane developed and refined this technique during the late 1950s, particularly after achieving sobriety in 1957 and intensifying his practice regimen, which included studying harmonic texts like Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns.[2] His time with Thelonious Monk's quartet that year further honed the approach, as Monk encouraged technical fluency through complex rhythms and encouraged exploring multiple notes simultaneously via false fingerings and lip adjustments.[18] By 1959, during the recording of Giant Steps, Coltrane had perfected the method to fill space in high-velocity tracks, integrating recurring melodic patterns—such as the ascending G♭-A♭-B♭-D♭ lick derived from earlier Monk-associated tunes like "Epistrophy"—to maintain structural cohesion amid the flurry.[18] In Giant Steps, the sheets of sound are prominently applied in fast-paced solos, where Coltrane deploys rapid sixteenth-note runs and pentatonic sequencing (e.g., repeating i-ii-iii-v patterns up to 35 times in the master take) to generate layered densities that align with the album's accelerating chord cycles, yet preserve melodic intent through precise breath support and alternate fingerings for seamless execution.[2] This density is enabled by the underlying harmonic framework, allowing Coltrane to navigate major third root movements without pausing for resolution.[2] In contrast, on more lyrical ballads like "Naima," Coltrane eschews the sheets for a sparser, horizontal phrasing focused on sustained tones and emotional expression, highlighting his versatility in adapting the technique to tempo and mood.[19]Track Listing and Analysis
Original Track Listing
The original 1960 release of Giant Steps on Atlantic Records (catalog SD 1311) is a mono and stereo LP featuring seven original compositions by John Coltrane, with a total runtime of 37:03; it contains no bonus tracks.[20][4] The sessions took place at Atlantic Studios in New York City, primarily on May 4 and 5, 1959, with one track recorded on December 2, 1959.[20]| Track | Title | Composer | Duration | Recording Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giant Steps | John Coltrane | 4:43 | May 5, 1959 |
| 2 | Cousin Mary | John Coltrane | 5:45 | May 4, 1959 |
| 3 | Countdown | John Coltrane | 2:21 | May 5, 1959 |
| 4 | Spiral | John Coltrane | 5:56 | May 4, 1959 |
| 5 | Syeeda's Song Flute | John Coltrane | 7:00 | May 5, 1959 |
| 6 | Naima | John Coltrane | 4:21 | December 2, 1959 |
| 7 | Mr. P.C. | John Coltrane | 6:57 | May 5, 1959 |