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Giant Steps
Studio album by John Coltrane
Released	February 1960
Recorded	May 4–5, 1959 December 2, 1959
Studio	Atlantic Studios, New York
Genre	Jazz
Length	37:03
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Nesuhi Ertegün
John Coltrane chronology
Soultrane (1958) Giant Steps (1960) Coltrane Jazz (1960)

Giant Steps is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane as leader, released in February 1960 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD 1311. This was his first album as leader for his new label Atlantic Records. Many of its tracks have become practice templates for jazz saxophonists. In 2004, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It attained gold record status in 2018, having sold 500,000 copies.

Background

In 1959, Miles Davis's business manager Harold Lovett negotiated a record contract for Coltrane with Atlantic, the terms including a $7,000 annual guarantee. Initial sessions for this album, the second recording date for Coltrane under his new contract after a January 15 date led by Milt Jackson, took place on March 26, 1959. The results of this session with Cedar Walton and Lex Humphries were not used, but appeared on subsequent compilations and reissues. Principal recording for the album took place on May 4 and 5, two weeks after Coltrane had participated in the final session for Kind of Blue. The track "Naima" was recorded on December 2 with Coltrane's bandmates, the rhythm section from the Miles Davis Quintet, who would provide the backing for most of his next album, Coltrane Jazz.

The recording exemplifies Coltrane's melodic phrasing that came to be known as sheets of sound, and features his explorations into third-related chord movements that came to be known as Coltrane changes. Jazz musicians continue to use the Giant Steps chord progression, which consists of a distinctive set of chords that create key centers a major third apart, as a practice piece and as a gateway into modern jazz improvisation. Several pieces on this album went on to become jazz standards, most prominently "Naima" and "Giant Steps".

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Down Beat
Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Virgin Encyclopedia
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested "Core Collection" calling it "Trane's first genuinely iconic record." In 2003, the album was ranked number 102 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

On March 3, 1998, Rhino Records reissued Giant Steps as part of its Atlantic 50th Anniversary Jazz Gallery series. Included were eight bonus tracks, five of which had appeared in 1975 on the Atlantic compilation Alternate Takes, the remaining three earlier issued on The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings in 1995.

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Coltrane

Recording Dates

Thursday 26 March 1959: Tracks 8, 9, 13, 14 (Bonus Tracks released in 1998)

Monday 4 May 1959: Tracks 3, 4 (Side One of original album); 11 (Bonus Track released in 1998)

Tuesday 5 May 1959: Tracks 1, 2, (Side One of original album); 1, 3, (Side Two of original album); 10, 12, 15 (Bonus Tracks released in 1998)

Wednesday 2 December 1959: Tracks 2 (Side Two of original album)

Personnel

Musicians

• John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
• Tommy Flanagan – piano
• Wynton Kelly – piano on "Naima"
• Paul Chambers – bass
• Art Taylor – drums
• Jimmy Cobb – drums on "Naima"
• Cedar Walton – piano on "Giant Steps" and Naima" alternate versions
• Lex Humphries – drums on "Giant Steps" and Naima" alternate versions

Production

• Nesuhi Ertegün – production
• Tom Dowd, Phil Iehle – engineering
• Lee Friedlander – photography
• Marvin Israel – cover design
• Nat Hentoff – liner notes
• Bob Carlton, Patrick Milligan – reissue supervision
• Bill Inglot, Dan Hersch – digital remastering
• Rachel Gutek – reissue design
• Hugh Brown – reissue art direction
• Vanessa Atkins, Steven Chean, Julee Stover – reissue editorial supervision
• Ted Meyers, Elizabeth Pavone – reissue editorial coordination

Release history

• 1960 – Atlantic Records SD 1311, vinyl record
• 1987 – Atlantic Records, first generation compact disc
• 1994 – Mobile Fidelity Gold CD
• 1998 – Rhino Records R2 75203, Deluxe Edition compact disc and 180-gram vinyl record

Certifications

References

1. Editorial Staff, Cash Box (13 February 1960). "February Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box, New York. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
2. Atlantic Masters CD Edition Liner Notes, 1998
3. Ben Ratliff. Coltrane: The Story of A Sound. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 2007. ISBN 978-0-374-12606-3. pp. 53-54.
4. Lewis Porter. John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN 0-472-10161-7, p. 145.
5. "What's News". The New York City Jazz Record. No. 202. January 2019. p. 5.
6. Lewis Porter. John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN 0-472-10161-7, pp. 117-8.
7. Porter, p. 145, pp. 359-60.
8. Porter, p. 360.
9. Giant Steps. Atlantic R2 75203, liner notes, p. 18.
10. Porter, pp. 145-148
11. Jazz Standards website retrieved 7 August 2011 Archived 17 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
12. Allmusic review
13. Down Beat review Archived 2009-06-07 at the Wayback Machine
14. Penguin Guide to Jazz review
15. Rolling Stone review
16. Virgin Encyclopedia review
17. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
18. Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) . "John Coltrane". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th. ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 269. ISBN 0-14-102327-9.
19. "102) Giant Steps". Rolling Stone. New York. November 2003. Archived from the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
20. Atlantic Masters Edition CD Liner Notes 1998
21. "American album certifications – John Coltrane – Giant Steps". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

• Liner notes and track notes, Rhino Deluxe Edition

• 1960 albums
• Albums produced by Nesuhi Ertegun
• Atlantic Records albums
• Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
• Hard bop albums
• Instrumental albums
• John Coltrane albums
• United States National Recording Registry recordings