"Giant Steps" is a jazzcomposition by American saxophonist John Coltrane. It was first recorded in 1959 and released on the 1960 albumGiant Steps. The composition features a cyclic chord pattern that has come to be known as Coltrane changes. The composition has become a jazz standard and has been covered by many artists.
Background
"Giant Steps" was composed and recorded during Coltrane's 1959 sessions for Atlantic Records, his first for the label. The original recording features Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Paul Chambers on double bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and Art Taylor on drums. John Coltrane was known for coming into the studio with unrehearsed songs, and "Giant Steps" was no exception. On the original recording, Flanagan played a choppy start-stop solo where it sounds like he is struggling to improvise over Coltrane changes without adequate preparation. Flanagan revisited "Giant Steps" on several recordings later in his career, including an album named after the song which he dedicated to Coltrane. In some of the alternate takes, Cedar Walton is at the piano, declining to take a solo and also playing at a slower tempo than the takes with Flanagan. John Coltrane named "Giant Steps" after its bass line. He stated that "the bass line is kind of a loping one. It goes from minor thirds to fourths, kind of a lop-sided pattern in contrast to moving strictly in fourths or in half-steps." It took two recording sessionstwo months apart before John Coltrane was willing to release his original rendition of "Giant Steps" to the public. An analysis of Coltrane's solo reveals that he worked out melodic patterns over the changes in advance, which he deployed during his recorded improvisation.
Musical characteristics
From beginning to end, "Giant Steps" follows alternating modulations of major third and augmented fifthintervals. Its structure primarily contains - - harmonic progressions circulating in thirds. The chords and patterns in "Giant Steps" reflect those found in Coltrane's compositions "Central Park West" and "Countdown", and his version of the Gershwins' song, "But Not For Me." According to Quincy Jones, Coltrane was inspired by an example in Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, stating: "Everyone thinks Coltrane wrote that, he didn’t. It’s Slonimsky. That book started all the jazz guys improvising in 12-tone. Coltrane carried that book around till the pages fell off". "Giant Steps" is usually played in a 'fast swing' style.
Reception
"Giant Steps" has been praised by critics and has become a jazz standard along with "Naima" from the same album. According to Lindsay Planer, "Giant Steps" was a "crucial touchstone in the progression of Coltrane’s music". She also highlighted the "tasteful synchronicity and thoroughly flexible pacing" of Paul Chambers and Art Taylor in the original recording, along with the "frenetic leads" by Flanagan and Coltrane.
