Giant Steps

Locations
Call Number: CD Jazz Coltrane Giant
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 3rd Floor, CDs 2-week checkout	CD Jazz Coltrane Giant	2-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult A/V 2-week checkout	CD Jazz Coltrane Giant	2-week checkout	Due 05-06-2024

"Original master recording--24 kt gold plated."
Jazz quartets.
Originally released without the alternate takes in 1960 on Atlantic SD 1311. The alternates were first released in 1974 on Atlantic SD 1668.
Program notes by Nat Hentoff inserted in container.
Giant steps -- Cousin Mary -- Countdown -- Spiral -- Syeeda's song flute -- Naima -- Mr. P.C. -- Alternate takes: Giant steps ; Naima ; Cousin Mary ; Countdown ; Syeeda's song flute.
John Coltrane, tenor sax ; Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton or Wynton Kelly, piano ; Paul Chambers, bass ; Jimmy Cobb, Lex Humphries or Art Taylor, drums.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Back on the 'Trane train submitted by Caser on February 22, 2011, 5:27pm It's the kind of conversation you overhear in an elevator.
"Oh yeah, I love jazz. I put it on during dinner and when I'm studying."
And the internal retort is, 'well then, you're listening to the wrong jazz, obviously.' Unfortunately that comes out snobbish rather than witty and nobody wants to be friends with someone who says those kinds of things, so an aside it remains.

But. The fact remains that listening to something like Coltrane's Giant Steps is a mind-in-a-blender experience. The kind of music you can't think over while studying. The kind of record that your grandmother would ask you unkindly to turn down ("please" omitted) during dinner.

'Trane is fast. He's loud. He doesn't always play inside the chords. Aside from Naima, these tunes are not pretty. At least, not at these speeds. At the end of Coltrane's and pianist Tommy Flanagan's solos, you're left with a Frazier kidney shot, hoping for just a few more seconds of greatness, but knowing the mat's charging your face and quickly. And when everyone's had their turn under the hot light, you're wondering if there's still enough steam left in the group to get back to the head to close it out. But it's always worth it to stand in with these heavyweights, even if you can't make it to 10.

That's not a ballad submitted by rdb78 on July 23, 2014, 12:33pm When I was in high school I was told that Tommy Flanagan showed up at this recording thinking the title track was a ballad, only to find out that he was sorely mistaken. I'm not sure if this story is true, but if you listen to his piano solo it seems believable to me. He definitely seems to drift away. I can't fathom that they wouldn't do a run through before starting the tape though.

Amazing Jazz Classic submitted by Meginator on July 27, 2023, 11:33pm John Coltrane's fast and furious saxophone demands attention throughout this album, and the backing band is just as good (even if they do usually stay in the background save for a few solos here and there). For something so unpredictable and wild, I think this is reasonably approachable for newcomers to jazz, especially anyone interested in exploring classics within different styles.