Coltrane, John: Giant Steps (CD)

Released in January 1960, John Coltrane’s first album devoted entirely to his own compositions confirmed his towering command of tenor saxophone and his emerging power as a composer. Apprenticeships with Dizzy, Miles, and Monk had helped focus his furious, expansive solos, and his stamina and underlying sense of harmonic adventure brought Coltrane, at 33, to a new cusp.

The polytonal “sheets of sound” that distinguished his marathon solos were offset by interludes of subtle, concise lyricism, embodied here in the tender “Naima.” That classic ballad is a calm refuge from the ecstatic, high-speed runs that spark the set’s up-tempo climaxes, which begin with the opening title song, itself a cornerstone of modern jazz.

1. Giant Steps
2. Cousin Mary
3. Countdown
4. Spiral
5. Syeeda's Song Flute
6. Naima
7. Mr. P.C.
8. Giant Steps (Alternate Version 1)
9. Naima (Alternate Version 1)
10. Cousin Mary (Alternate Take)
11. Countdown (Alternate Take)
12. Syeeda's Song Flute (Alternate Take)
13. Giant Steps (Alternate Version 2)
14. Naima (Alternate Version 2)
15. Giant Steps (Alternate Take)