Giant Steps

We’re continuing our investigation into the music of John Coltrane recorded for Atlantic Records during 1959-61 with a program exploring Trane’s preparations for recording his landmark Giant Steps album as documented in Disc 7 of the Atlantic Records box set The Heavyweight Champion. On April 1, 1959 Trane took Cedar Walton (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Lex Humphries (drums) into the Atlantic studios to work on a set of his compositions for the album, but he was evidenty dissatisfied with the results and ended up recorded the Giant Steps album with Tommy Flanagan and Arthur Taylor replacing Walton & Humphries on May 4-5, 1959. The “alternative versions” below are from April 1; the “alternate takes” are from the May sessions.

The John Sinclair Foundation Presents

GIANT STEPS

ANCESTOR WORSHIP WITH JOHN SINCLAIR 70

John Sinclair, Fly Agaric 23 Studio, Amsterdam, December 25, 2013 [JSAW-0070]

Charlie Parker: Another Hairdo

John Coltrane Quartet: Giant Steps (alternate version) (take 1)

John Coltrane Quartet: Giant Steps (alternate version) (take 2)

John Coltrane Quartet: Giant Steps (alternate version) (take 3)

John Coltrane Quartet: Giant Steps (alternate version) (take 4)

John Coltrane Quartet: Giant Steps (alternate version) (take 5)

John Coltrane Quartet: Giant Steps (alternate version) (take 6)

John Coltrane Quartet: Giant Steps (alternate version) (take 7)