The story behind puzzle No. 4
John Coltrane · Giant Steps · Atlantic · 1959 (released 1960)
If you have ever heard a jazz student groan, there is a good chance Giant Steps was on the stand. The tune moves through three keys at breakneck speed, and Coltrane makes it sound like he is out for a stroll.
Coltrane recorded Giant Steps for Atlantic on May 5, 1959, two weeks after the final Kind of Blue session with Miles Davis. The two records point in opposite directions. Kind of Blue slows the chord changes down almost to a stop, while Giant Steps packs them in as tightly as possible. Every tune on the album is a Coltrane original, and it was released in February 1960.
The tune jumps between three key centers, B, G and E flat, that are each a major third apart. Instead of staying in one key and wandering away, it keeps pivoting to a new one every bar or two. Musicians call this pattern Coltrane changes, and learning to solo over it at tempo is still a benchmark for serious players.
Coltrane's solo is a torrent of notes that critic Ira Gitler had earlier described as sheets of sound. Then listen to pianist Tommy Flanagan's solo. He was brought in without a rehearsal, and he plays short, halting phrases. It is one of the most talked-about piano solos in jazz because it shows exactly how hard these changes are.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play Naima next. It is on the same album and it is the opposite of Giant Steps: a slow ballad named for Coltrane's wife at the time.
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