John Coltrane, by October 1958, was no longer the “dejected and dissatisfied” musician he once described himself as. A Downbeat magazine cover story declared him “a happy young man,” a stark contrast to his recent past struggles. After grappling with personal demons and professional frustrations, Coltrane was emerging with a renewed sense of optimism and a transformative approach to his instrument. This pivotal period, marked by his recovery and burgeoning creativity, set the stage for one of the most groundbreaking albums in jazz history: Giant Steps. The album and its title track, “Giant Steps,” would not only redefine Coltrane’s career but also send seismic waves through the landscape of jazz harmony and improvisation, influencing generations of musicians to come.
Coltrane’s transformation was palpable. His performances with the Miles Davis Quintet earlier that year, captured in recordings from the Café Bohemia and Jazz at the Plaza, showcased a player unleashed. His solos, characterized by an astonishing density of notes that Ira Gitler famously dubbed “sheets of sound,” were both exhilarating and overwhelming. French critic Francois Postif, witnessing Coltrane’s post-recovery performances, prophetically stated his influence would rival that of Charlie Parker. Even the notoriously discerning pianist Bud Powell was reportedly captivated, attending Coltrane’s performances for four consecutive nights, marveling at his soloist evolution. John Coltrane was undeniably on an ascendant trajectory.
Born in 1926, Coltrane’s musical journey began with formal studies in Philadelphia, where he initially fell under the spell of Charlie Parker’s bebop innovations. His first major opportunity arrived in 1949 with Dizzy Gillespie’s ensemble. Although initially confident, Coltrane soon realized the limitations of imitation. “What I didn’t know with Diz was that what I had to do was really express myself,” he later admitted. “You can only play so much of another man [Parker].”
Returning to Philadelphia in 1951, Coltrane sought diverse musical experiences, joining Earl Bostic’s rhythm and blues band. This was followed by a significant three-year stint with Johnny Hodges, a celebrated saxophonist from Duke Ellington’s orchestra. Coltrane described this period as “my education to the older generation,” absorbing the nuances of traditional jazz and blues phrasing. By 1955, he was back in Philadelphia when a call came that would change his life – an invitation to join the Miles Davis Quintet.
Under Davis’s leadership, Coltrane’s harmonic concept began to expand. Davis, a known innovator, encouraged exploration and pushed his musicians to the boundaries of conventional jazz harmony. “Miles is the number one influence over most of the modern musicians now,” Coltrane acknowledged in Downbeat. “There isn’t much harmonic ground he hasn’t broken. Just listening to the beauty of his playing opens up doors… Miles has shown me possibilities in choosing substitutions within a chord and also new progressions.”
However, Coltrane’s progress was hampered by personal struggles. In April 1957, Davis dismissed both Coltrane and drummer Philly Joe Jones due to their struggles with drug addiction. Saxophonist Charles Lloyd recounted Cannonball Adderley’s story of Coltrane’s overdose while touring with Davis in San Francisco. According to Adderley, Coltrane, with the help of Philly Joe Jones and bassist Paul Chambers, confronted his addiction directly. Jackie McLean, in Jazz Times, described a difficult period where Coltrane, attempting to quit without substitution drugs, arrived at gigs unwell and disheveled, sometimes resorting to alcohol. Following a particularly challenging engagement at the Café Bohemia, Davis made the difficult decision to let him go.
This setback became a turning point. Coltrane, supported by family and friends, dedicated himself to recovery and began informal rehearsals with Thelonious Monk. Monk, a singular figure in jazz known for his angular melodies and unconventional harmonies, had begun a residency at the Five Spot Café in July 1957 and invited Coltrane to join him. This collaboration, though historically under-documented in recordings, is considered a crucial period in Coltrane’s artistic development. Limited recordings from this time, later compiled as Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: The Complete April and July Riverside Recordings, offer glimpses into their musical dialogue. Despite the scarcity of studio recordings, producer Orrin Keepnews described their five-month residency as “one of the most memorable collaborations in the entire history of jazz.”
Many believe that during this period with Monk, Coltrane, now free from addiction, truly solidified his artistic identity. Monk’s demanding compositions and unique harmonic language challenged Coltrane, fostering significant artistic growth. The impact of this collaboration became even more evident with the 2006 discovery and release of Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall, recorded in November 1957. This live recording showcases Monk’s approach of giving Coltrane ample space to solo, revealing the saxophonist developing intricate and original improvisational patterns.
These nine performances served as a prelude to a decade of extraordinary creativity that only Coltrane’s untimely death in 1967 would interrupt. Reflecting on his time with Monk, Coltrane told Downbeat in 1960, “working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I felt I learned from in every way – through the senses, theoretically, technically. I would talk to Monk about musical problems and he would sit at the piano and show me the answers just by playing them. I could watch him play and find out the things I wanted to know. Also, I could see a lot of things I didn’t know about at all.”
Having absorbed the creative energy from both Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, Coltrane emerged as a distinct voice, his artistic vision sharpening. “Miles and Monk are my two musicians,” he declared to Downbeat. In early 1958, Coltrane rejoined Miles Davis, remaining for fifteen months. This was a transformed Coltrane who returned to Davis’s ensemble, now featuring Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Bill Evans (later Wynton Kelly), and Jimmy Cobb. Cannonball Adderley noted in a 1958 Downbeat interview, “Coltrane and Sonny Rollins are introducing us to some new music, each in his own way. I think Monk’s acceptance, after all this time, is giving musicians courage to keep playing their original ideas, come what may.”
As 1958 progressed, while still self-critical, Coltrane’s “dejection and dissatisfaction” had evolved into a determined drive for improvement, fueled by self-awareness and confidence. “I have more work to do on my tone and articulation,” he stated in Downbeat. “I must study more general technique and smooth out some harmonic kinks. Sometimes when playing I discover two ideas, and instead of working one, I work on two simultaneously and loose continuity.”
December 26, 1958, marked Coltrane’s final recording session as a leader for Prestige Records. This quartet date with Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor, yielding tracks like ‘Time After Time’ and ‘Then I’ll Be Tired of You’ (later on the album Stardust), offered little hint of the revolutionary musical statement he was about to make.
By 1959, Coltrane was recognized as a leading voice in jazz and was invited to participate in what would become the most iconic jazz album of all time: Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. Recorded in March and April 1959, Kind of Blue is celebrated for its modal approach to jazz improvisation and its profound beauty. On this album, Coltrane’s style, while still evolving, provided a perfect counterpoint to Davis’s minimalist elegance. The modal framework of Kind of Blue, with its extended periods of harmonic stasis, challenged improvisers to explore melodic and rhythmic ideas with greater freedom.
Just weeks after the first Kind of Blue session, Coltrane entered Atlantic Studios to begin his debut as a leader for Atlantic Records, under the guidance of Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegun. This project would be a stark contrast to the modal explorations of Kind of Blue. The initial sessions in March 1959, though shelved until 1974, produced early versions of ‘Giant Steps’ and ‘Naima’. The composition ‘Giant Steps’ would become the album’s title track and a cornerstone of Coltrane’s harmonic innovation. These early takes, featuring Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers, and Lex Humphries, reveal a slower tempo and Coltrane’s deliberate exploration of melodic patterns, notably a i-ii-iii-v grouping, repeated extensively throughout his solo. The released master take of “Giant Steps” showcases this pattern repeated around 35 times in root form alone.
The use of patterns in jazz improvisation was not entirely new. Louis Armstrong’s 1927 recording of ‘Hotter Than That’ featured a surprisingly modern nine-bar pattern during his vocal. Sonny Stitt also employed patterns to navigate complex chord progressions in bebop. These techniques fall into two categories: “Melodic Sequencing,” where the melodic relationships between notes are maintained across chord changes, and “Rhythmic Sequencing,” where rhythmic figures are repeated without necessarily preserving melodic intervals.
Coltrane masterfully applied pentatonic scales and patterns, transposing them across the rapid chord changes of “Giant Steps.” The final master take, recorded in May 1959 with Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor, was taken at a faster tempo. “Giant Steps” features 26 chord changes within its 16-bar structure, presenting a formidable challenge to improvisers due to its rapidly shifting key centers. While pianist Tommy Flanagan reportedly found the changes challenging during the recording (though later mastering them, as evidenced by his 1982 album In Memory of John Coltrane: Giant Steps), Coltrane’s innovative use of pattern-running techniques proved highly influential. As Lewis Porter, author of John Coltrane: His Life And Music, observes, “This use of ‘pentatonic patterns’… is widespread today, primarily through Coltrane’s influence.”
“‘Giant Steps’,” Porter explains, “is effectively an étude – or a thorough study – of third-related chord movement.” Chord progressions moving in major thirds were uncommon in jazz at the time. While the middle eight of ‘Have You Met Miss Jones?’ hinted at this harmonic movement, “Giant Steps” made it central. Porter suggests that Nicolas Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns might have been a key influence, particularly for the latter half of the composition.
Porter recounts, “Everybody was looking at Slonimsky’s book, trying to see how it fitted into Coltrane’s thinking on ‘Giant Steps.’ Everybody was poring over it and nobody thought of looking at the introduction. And here Slonimsky said – and I paraphrase – ‘you might enjoy putting chords under some of these patterns.’ And as an example he gave one of his patterns harmonised, and it turns out to be very close to the second eight bars, the second half, of ‘Giant Steps.’ It was there all along right in the front of the book where nobody checked!” In these final bars, Coltrane adapted Slonimsky’s patterns into a series of ii-V-I progressions, separated by major thirds.
Today, as Lewis Porter points out, “Giant Steps” has become a crucial piece in jazz education, a “test piece for jazz musicians and is required fare in jazz education programs.” Norwegian saxophonist Petter Wettre recalls the daunting experience of encountering it as a student. “At some point in your career as a student, or later, you are going to be confronted with ‘Giant Steps’,” Wettre states.
“At first I had no idea how to play it because it is so hard. When I was at Berklee College of Music, you get ‘Giant Steps,’ you get the transcription of the solo and you learn that and after that you’re on your own. But there is so much information packed into that performance. Now, teaching myself I spend a lot of time on it, for saxophonists it is something you must know, and have a deep understanding of. Everybody learns it, although today hardly anybody plays it!”
Wettre offers practical advice for approaching “Giant Steps,” suggesting focusing on the individual chords first. “Viewed separately, none of the chords in ‘Giant Steps’ are difficult. It’s when you string them together it gets tricky,” he explains.
“Although ‘Giant Steps’ has 26 chords, there are only 10 key changes, and those 10 key changes involve just three keys – B, G and Eb. Using the dominant’s pentatonic scale of each key centre means you basically have to learn three pentatonic scales to improvise over the tune – F#, D and Bb. But watch out, this only works if you pay close attention to where the chords change. But having tried it both ways I would say you will get results much easier than the ‘conventional’ way – i, ii, iii, v and i, ii, iii, v and so on. My personal view is that the main challenge lies with tempo. But since chords, melody and form are already predetermined, you are free to choose tempo. In other words, bring the tempo way down when you practise it. And why not try it in a slow tempo when you perform it? It’s a beautiful line with an organic melody curve that benefits from a slower tempo.”
Wettre humorously explores the perceived gender disparity in the embrace of “Giant Steps.” “Why is this?” he wonders, noting a perceived lack of enthusiasm for the tune among female jazz musicians. His girlfriend suggested, “It’s a guy thing,” leading Wettre to question if it was seen as a competitive proving ground.
Norwegian saxophonist Frøy Aagre offered her perspective: “I used to practise ‘Giant Steps’ a long time ago. As a student. To overcome technical difficulties. In my case was never intended for public hearing. ‘Giant Steps’ didn’t address me emotionally. It’s about pure technique. ‘Giant Steps’ is a typical tune that serves the purpose of competing with other musicians to see who’s the best. It triggers the competitive instinct which is much stronger with men than with women. My personal opinion is that women more often compete with themselves rather than with others. With men, it’s the other way around.”
Wettre acknowledges this viewpoint, emphasizing Coltrane’s humility and intentions beyond mere technical display. He also observes a shift in the current generation of jazz musicians, with “Giant Steps” perhaps not holding the same rite-of-passage significance as it once did. “I consider myself an ‘old school’ improviser – form, chords, melody – but younger musicians coming through, students, twenty, twenty-five, I’m not going to generalise, but it doesn’t have the same impact as when I first started playing it 25 years ago. Fifty years after it was recorded it’s not seen in the same sense as it used to be, today it’s open forms, simpler harmonies, I won’t be drawn about whether that’s good or bad, but after another fifty years my guess is its impact will be lost.”
The complete Giant Steps album, including the title track, was finalized in May 1959 with Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor. Coltrane’s deep engagement with the harmonic concept of “Giant Steps” is further evident in ‘Countdown,’ which, while based on ‘Tune Up,’ utilizes a similar “Giant Steps” progression. The album, Coltrane’s first entirely of original compositions, includes dedications to family members: ‘Naima’ to his wife, ‘Cousin Mary’ to his cousin, and ‘Syeeda’s Song Flute’ to his stepdaughter. ‘Naima’ is a serene ballad-like piece based on a pedal point, while ‘Cousin Mary’ is a blues rooted in his early musical experiences. ‘Mr. P.C.,’ a minor blues dedicated to Paul Chambers, became a popular jam session tune. ‘Syeeda’s Song Flute’ reflects the influence of Thelonious Monk. Giant Steps was released in January 1960, with Ralph J. Gleason in Downbeat recognizing it as “one of the important ones.”
“Coltrane revolutionised jazz instrumentally, harmonically and rhythmically”
Coltrane’s career, broadly divided into three phases, revolutionized jazz in instrumental technique, harmony, and rhythm. The first phase, his “change-running” or hard bop period, culminated in Giant Steps, serving as a definitive marker for this era. While subsequent albums like Coltrane Jazz further explored this territory, Giant Steps remains a towering achievement. The second phase, his “modal” period (1960-1965) with his classic quartet featuring McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones, reached its zenith with A Love Supreme. The final “free” period (1965-1967) explored free-form improvisation and Eastern musical concepts. Each of these phases profoundly impacted jazz musicians, akin to multiple arrivals of Charlie Parker’s revolutionary influence.
While Giant Steps might seem like a bridge to his later, more expansive explorations, Lewis Porter suggests that Kind of Blue foreshadowed Coltrane’s future direction even more directly. “On ‘So What,’ the opening selection, Coltrane spontaneously composed a tightly unified solo notable for both the abstract quality of its melodic motives and for the way he develops each motivic idea,” Porter explains.
“The ‘So What’ solo indicates the direction Coltrane’s music was to take during the 1960s. He became more and more concerned with structural aspects of improvisation; as he did so he concentrated more exclusively on modal backgrounds, which gave him the time he needed to develop his ideas at length.”
Historically, Coltrane bridges the song-based approach of Charlie Parker with the abstract freedom of Ornette Coleman. However, Coltrane’s unique contribution lies in his unwavering commitment to artistic evolution, his relentless musical curiosity driving him to continuously push boundaries and explore new sonic territories.
Listening to Coltrane’s recordings across his three periods reveals a musician in constant transition, from sideman to visionary leader, always expanding musical possibilities. From the cyclical forms of ‘Giant Steps’ to modal explorations like ‘My Favorite Things,’ and eventually to the open forms of ‘India’ and ‘Óle,’ culminating in the abstraction of his final period exemplified by Live in Seattle and Interstellar Space, Coltrane’s journey is that of a true jazz giant whose musical and emotional depth continues to unfold.
“It is not unreasonable to suggest that among jazz musicians, and so within jazz itself, Giant Steps may well be the most influential jazz album of all time”
John Coltrane’s legacy endures, inspiring musicians and fans worldwide. Giant Steps and its harmonic innovations, often termed “Coltrane Changes,” are fundamental in jazz education. The album’s influence is so pervasive that it’s reasonable to argue Giant Steps is the most influential jazz album for jazz musicians themselves.
Coltrane’s solos have been meticulously transcribed and analyzed, the subject of countless academic studies and biographies, including Lewis Porter’s definitive John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Despite the scholarly depth surrounding his work, the essence of Coltrane’s music, as Giant Steps so powerfully demonstrates, remains accessible and deeply human. His music embodies universal values – the joy of creation, the raw energy of performance, and a profound emotional depth that resonates even today. These are qualities anyone can appreciate, precisely as Coltrane intended.
This article originally appeared in the Dec 09 / Jan 10 issue of Jazzwise.
