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Giant Steps album cover

Album · 1959

Giant Steps

by John Coltrane

Giant Steps is a 1959 jazz album by John Coltrane. It runs 12 tracks across 63 minutes. Riffiter listeners rate it 3.0/5 from 1 rating.

prod.Nesuhi Ertegun

Jazz · Free Jazz

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3.0 /5
1 rating
99 /100
7 critics
12
Tracks
63 min
Runtime
121 bpm
Tempo
A# minor
Key

Ratings

1 rating · avg 3.0

0.5★5★

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Critics

7 publications

Scores collected from the English Wikipedia ratings box (CC BY-SA). Ratings belong to the publications; follow a link to read the review.

Cover art

2 credits

Giant Steps cover art
Design
Marvin Israel
Photography
Lee Friedlander

Tracklist

12 tracks · 63 min

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Also released as

Every pressing below shares this page's rating and reviews — they are the same record.

  • Giant Steps (60th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) (2020 Remaster)Anniversary edition · 2020 · 25 tracks
    1. 1Giant Steps (2020 Remaster)
    2. 2Cousin Mary (2020 Remaster)
    3. 3Countdown (2020 Remaster)
    4. 4Spiral (2020 Remaster)
    5. 5Syeeda's Song Flute (2020 Remaster)
    6. 6Naima (2020 Remaster)
    7. 7Mr. P.C. (2020 Remaster)
    8. 8Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 1, Incomplete) (2020 Remaster)
    9. 9Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 2, False Start) (2020 Remaster)
    10. 10Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 3, Incomplete) (2020 Remaster)
    11. 11Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 4, Incomplete) (2020 Remaster)
    12. 12Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 5) (2020 Remaster)
    13. 13Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 6, False Start) (2020 Remaster)
    14. 14Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 7, Incomplete) (2020 Remaster)
    15. 15Giant Steps (Alternate, Take 8) (2020 Remaster)
    16. 16Naima (Alternate, Take 1, False Start) (2020 Remaster)
    17. 17Naima (Alternate, Take 2, Incomplete) (2020 Remaster)
    18. 18Naima (Alternate, Take 3) (2020 Remaster)
    19. 19Naima (Alternate, Take 4, False Start) (2020 Remaster)
    20. 20Naima (Alternate, Take 5) (2020 Remaster)
    21. 21Naima (Alternate, Take 6) (2020 Remaster)
    22. 22Like Sonny (Rehearsal 1, False Start) (2020 Remaster)
    23. 23Like Sonny (Rehearsal 2, Incomplete) (2020 Remaster)
    24. 24Like Sonny (Alternate, Take 1, False Start) (2020 Remaster)
    25. 25Like Sonny (Alternate, Take 2, Incomplete) (2020 Remaster)
  • Giant Steps (2014 Remastered Version)Remaster · 2014 · 8 tracks
    1. 1Giant Steps (2014 Remastered Version)
    2. 2Cousin Mary (2014 Remastered Version)
    3. 3Countdown (2014 Remastered Version)
    4. 4Spiral (2014 Remastered Version)
    5. 5Syeeda's Song Flute (2014 Remastered Version)
    6. 6Naima (2014 Remastered Version)
    7. 7Mr P.C. (2014 Remastered Version)
    8. 8Giant Steps (Alternate Take) (2014 Remastered Version)
  • Giant Steps (2020 Remaster)Remaster · 2011 · 7 tracks
    1. 1Giant Steps (2020 Remaster)
    2. 2Cousin Mary (2020 Remaster)
    3. 3Countdown (2020 Remaster)
    4. 4Spiral (2020 Remaster)
    5. 5Syeeda's Song Flute (2020 Remaster)
    6. 6Naima (2020 Remaster)
    7. 7Mr. P.C. (2020 Remaster)

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About

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.

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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 Kind of Blue quartet. What is lost in tempo is more than recouped in intrinsic melodic beauty. Both Giant Steps and the seven-disc Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings offer more comprehensive presentations of these sessions.

In brief

Is Giant Steps good?
Riffiter listeners rate Giant Steps 3.0/5 from 1 rating.
When was Giant Steps released?
Giant Steps was released in 1959.
How many tracks are on Giant Steps?
Giant Steps has 12 tracks, with a runtime of 63 minutes.
What genre is Giant Steps?
Giant Steps is catalogued under Jazz, Free Jazz.
What BPM is Giant Steps?
Giant Steps runs at a median tempo of 121 BPM across its tracks, most often in A# minor, measured from audio analysis.
What albums are similar to Giant Steps?
Listeners of Giant Steps also rate Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman, Far Cry by Eric Dolphy.
Who produced Giant Steps?
Nesuhi Ertegun produced 7 of the 12 tracks on Giant Steps.

Credits

Produced by
Nesuhi Ertegun
Engineered by
Phil IehleTom Dowd
Played by
John ColtranePaul ChambersArt TaylorTommy FlanaganJimmy Cobb
+1 more
Wynton Kelly

Credits and connections from Genius