Coltrane's "Giant Steps"

[George H. Smith]

I am not a big fan of John Coltrane, but this is one of the most remarkable music videos I have ever seen. Its effect is almost hypnotic. Even many jazz haters will find this interesting -- for the visuals, if not for the music.

Coltrane's "Giant Steps" is a true classic and a real ballbuster to play. To quote from the Wiki article on "Giant Steps":

Giant Steps is a 1960 studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released on Atlantic Records.

Giant Steps was his second album to be recorded by the Atlantic label, and marked the first time that all of the pieces on a recording had been composed by him. The recording exemplifies Coltrane's melodic phrasing that came to be known as sheets of sound, and features the use of a new harmonic concept now referred to as Coltrane changes. Jazz musicians continue to use the "Giant Steps" chord progression as a practice piece and as a gateway into modern jazz improvisation. The ability to play over the "Giant Steps"/Coltrane cycle remains to this day one of the benchmark standards by which a jazz musician's improvising skill is measured.

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Ghs

[9thdoctor]

I am not a big fan of John Coltrane

What's not to like? A Love Supreme requires a rare mood for me, otherwise his solo stuff and his collaborations with Miles Davis are among my top favorites. Chacun à son goût!

I agree the Giant Steps video is extraordinary.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Ninth Doctor

[George H. Smith]

I am not a big fan of John Coltrane

What's not to like? A Love Supreme requires a rare mood for me, otherwise his solo stuff and his collaborations with Miles Davis are among my top favorites. Chacun à son goût!

I wasn't being very precise. I like the early work that Coltrane did with Miles Davis and others. It is his later music that I don't care for much.

Ghs

[Rich Engle]

Giant Steps=rite of passage when you're learning jazz. And everytime you approach it after that it still challenges.

I liked the Coltrane/Miles stuff too. And Gil Evans' arrangements.

OMG I just started playing with a 79-year old jazz accordionist. He gave me a CD with ALL the fake book charts in it--6000 standards. Between that and transcribing all kinds of everything for the church services, my head is swimming with notes. No chord symbols, you have to look at everything vertical and develop the chord melody progression. And of course, it seems like everytime I turn around a thing is in Eb or Ab, the Kryptonite Keys for guitarists. Today's project: restring a tenor uke, tune to soprano. Don't ask, I won't tell.