萨克斯风手约翰柯川的音乐一直被认为艰涩难懂，甚至其观念超越了当代的极限。如今当人们讨论如何在和声上逐步雕琢，或是速度与技巧上表现突出，却没想到柯川在1960年初发行的「Giant Steps」专辑早已为往后数十年的爵士乐发展跨出了一大步。 「Giant Steps」专辑与差不多时期出现的自由爵士乐大师欧奈柯尔曼的「Free Jazz」专辑，在和声发展上有异曲同工之妙。柯川的演奏速度在当时几乎比其它人快了一倍，然而整个演奏密度却惊人的毫无破绽可言。同时，他在即兴独奏上的表现层次也急速的抛开自查理帕克以来所建立的标准。柯川努力探索内心世界的明灭，在「Giant Steps」专辑中完全表露无遗。 这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第102位。 History will undoubtedly enshrine this disc as a watershed the likes of which may never truly be appreciated. Giant Steps bore the double-edged sword of furthering the cause of the music as well as delivering it to an increasingly mainstream audience. Although this was John Coltrane's debut for Atlantic, he was concurrently performing and recording with Miles Davis. Within the space of less than three weeks, Coltrane would complete his work with Davis and company on another genre-defining disc, Kind of Blue, before commencing his efforts on this one. Coltrane (tenor sax) is flanked by essentially two different trios. Recording commenced in early May of 1959 with a pair of sessions that featured Tommy Flanagan (piano) and Art Taylor (drums), as well as Paul Chambers -- who was the only band member other than Coltrane to have performed on every date. When recording resumed in December of that year, Wynton Kelly (piano) and Jimmy Cobb (drums) were instated -- replicating the lineup featured on Kind of Blue, sans Miles Davis of course. At the heart of these recordings, however, is the laser-beam focus of Coltrane's tenor solos. All seven pieces issued on the original Giant Steps are likewise Coltrane compositions. He was, in essence, beginning to rewrite the jazz canon with material that would be centered on solos -- the 180-degree antithesis of the art form up to that point. These arrangements would create a place for the solo to become infinitely more compelling. This would culminate in a frenetic performance style that noted jazz journalist Ira Gitler accurately dubbed &sheets of sound.& Coltrane's polytonal torrents extricate the amicable and otherwise cordial solos that had begun decaying the very exigency of the genre -- turning it into the equivalent of easy listening. He wastes no time as the disc's title track immediately indicates a progression from which there would be no looking back. Line upon line of highly cerebral improvisation snake between the melody and solos, practically fusing the two. The resolute intensity of &Countdown& does more to modernize jazz in 141 seconds than many artists do in their entire careers. Tellingly, the contrasting and ultimately pastoral &Naima& was the last tune to be recorded, and is the only track on the original long-player to feature the Kind of Blue quartet. What is lost in tempo is more than recouped in intrinsic melodic beauty. Both Giant Steps [Deluxe Edition] and the seven-disc Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings offer more comprehensive presentations of these sessions.
| Alias | giant steps |
|---|---|
| Extra | giant steps |
| Name | giant steps |
| 原始名称 | Giant Steps |
| 名称 | giant steps |
| 歌手 | john coltrane |