So I'm jumping from the most accessible jazz album ever made to arguably one of the hardest. Sorry. This album is difficult because of two things: all the songs are original compositions, and the songs are written almost solely as vehicles for improvisation. It's like Coltrane is brushing off his own melodies. They seem almost incidental and half hearted in their performance, like they are something he just wants to get over with before he can start improvising over the chord progressions. And the chord progressions are the real genius of the writing. Without getting technical let me say that they are impossible. They smack you in the face right from the first and title track.
'Giant Steps' is universally regarded as one of the hardest jazz songs ever written because of the speed and the huge leaps between each chord (hence the title). The changes are so hard that the piano player on the recording (the guy who's job it is to play them) can't even keep up. When his turn comes to solo he plays through the full song a couple times, competently enough, making some nice turns, but not saying anything special, and then just loses it. He has to resort to just playing out the chords instead of improvising for almost a full turn through the form of the song. The fact that this was the best take, the take they chose to put on the album, is just insane. And it speaks volumes about the mad genius of Coltrane's writing.
Coltrane himself on 'Giant Steps' is sublimely virtuosic. Playing the melody through twice you can hear him chomping at the bit, almost bored with his own song, waiting for end of the second chorus so he can let loose. When he does he easily sets a new precedent for the jazz saxophone. His solo is merciless and furious and effortless all at the same time. Even playing at the speed he is, he doesn't flub a single note. He hits them all clean and sharp and moves on quickly leaving the others to echo behind and ring in your ears. This track right here is the defining recording of the "sheets of sound" style that would become Coltrane's trademark.
The rest of this album can sometimes feel like an afterthought after the first song. Some of the tracks just plain don't live up to the first. 'Countdown' comes the closest, blisteringly so, and I do love the conceit of having a song that is essentially entirely improvisation, with the melody and the rest of the band coming in only at the very end (an almost complete inversion of the standard jazz form). But the sole true ballad 'Naima' is so weak its anemic. As clearly gifted as Coltrane was he never really had the tone, or the patience I think, for ballads. Its like he's that kid in school who is so smart that he's bored, and the teachers put him in the remedial class because he acts out. The result is Coltrane struggling to stay in tune on the melody, and clearly being lazy on the improvisation.
The alternate takes at the end are something that usually only interests severe jazz heads. Personally I find them an interesting listen, but I also think an album should be a creation in a vacuum. That this to say, the takes they picked for the album were picked for a reason, and the ones that were dumped were dumped for a reason. Letting us hear the alternates cheapens somewhat the integrity of the statement being made by the album as a whole. And never during the alternate take section do you find yourself saying "oh they should have put this on the album instead." Especially from Coltrane's perspective, as some of his performances on the alternates humanize what is an otherwise almost perfect set.
This album might be harder for the casual jazz fan to swallow, but it is nevertheless one of the most important jazz albums ever made, from the writing to the performance to the timing, and anyone interested in the genre needs to listen.
'Giant Steps' is universally regarded as one of the hardest jazz songs ever written because of the speed and the huge leaps between each chord (hence the title). The changes are so hard that the piano player on the recording (the guy who's job it is to play them) can't even keep up. When his turn comes to solo he plays through the full song a couple times, competently enough, making some nice turns, but not saying anything special, and then just loses it. He has to resort to just playing out the chords instead of improvising for almost a full turn through the form of the song. The fact that this was the best take, the take they chose to put on the album, is just insane. And it speaks volumes about the mad genius of Coltrane's writing.
Coltrane himself on 'Giant Steps' is sublimely virtuosic. Playing the melody through twice you can hear him chomping at the bit, almost bored with his own song, waiting for end of the second chorus so he can let loose. When he does he easily sets a new precedent for the jazz saxophone. His solo is merciless and furious and effortless all at the same time. Even playing at the speed he is, he doesn't flub a single note. He hits them all clean and sharp and moves on quickly leaving the others to echo behind and ring in your ears. This track right here is the defining recording of the "sheets of sound" style that would become Coltrane's trademark.
The rest of this album can sometimes feel like an afterthought after the first song. Some of the tracks just plain don't live up to the first. 'Countdown' comes the closest, blisteringly so, and I do love the conceit of having a song that is essentially entirely improvisation, with the melody and the rest of the band coming in only at the very end (an almost complete inversion of the standard jazz form). But the sole true ballad 'Naima' is so weak its anemic. As clearly gifted as Coltrane was he never really had the tone, or the patience I think, for ballads. Its like he's that kid in school who is so smart that he's bored, and the teachers put him in the remedial class because he acts out. The result is Coltrane struggling to stay in tune on the melody, and clearly being lazy on the improvisation.
The alternate takes at the end are something that usually only interests severe jazz heads. Personally I find them an interesting listen, but I also think an album should be a creation in a vacuum. That this to say, the takes they picked for the album were picked for a reason, and the ones that were dumped were dumped for a reason. Letting us hear the alternates cheapens somewhat the integrity of the statement being made by the album as a whole. And never during the alternate take section do you find yourself saying "oh they should have put this on the album instead." Especially from Coltrane's perspective, as some of his performances on the alternates humanize what is an otherwise almost perfect set.
This album might be harder for the casual jazz fan to swallow, but it is nevertheless one of the most important jazz albums ever made, from the writing to the performance to the timing, and anyone interested in the genre needs to listen.