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Giant Steps
''Giant Steps'' is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane as leader. It was released in February 1960 on Atlantic Records. This was his first album as leader for Atlantic Records, with which he had signed a new contract the previous year. The record is regarded as one of the most influential jazz albums of all time. Many of its tracks have become practice templates for jazz saxophonists. In 2004, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It attained gold record status in 2018, having sold 500,000 copies. Two tracks, "Naima" and "Syeeda's Song Flute", are respectively named after Coltrane's wife at the time and her daughter, whom he adopted. A third, " Mr. P.C.", takes its name from the initials of bassist Paul Chambers, who played on the album. A fourth, "Cousin Mary", is named in honor of Mary Lyerly, Coltrane's younger cousin. Background In 1959, Miles Davis's business manager Haro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Steps (composition)
"Giant Steps" is a jazz composition by American saxophonist John Coltrane. It was first recorded in 1959 and released on the 1960 album ''Giant Steps''. The composition features a cyclic chord pattern that has come to be known as Coltrane changes. The composition has become a jazz standard, covered by many artists. Due to its speed and rapid transition through the three keys of B major, G major and E♭ major, '' Vox'' described the piece as "the most feared song in jazz" and "one of the most challenging chord progressions to improvise over" in the jazz repertoire. Background "Giant Steps" was composed and recorded during Coltrane's 1959 sessions for Atlantic Records, his first for the label. The original recording features Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Paul Chambers on double bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and Art Taylor on drums. As with other compositions, Coltrane brought "Giant Steps" to the studio without rehearsal. On the original recording, Flanagan played a choppy start-s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ..., bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raised in North Carolina, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia after graduating high school, where he studied music. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of Modal jazz, modes and was one of the players at the forefront of free jazz. He led at least fifty recording sessions and appeared on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Over the course of his career, Coltrane's music t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Chambers
Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop era. He was also known for his bowed solos. Chambers recorded about a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader, and over 100 more as a sideman, especially as the anchor of trumpeter Miles Davis's " first great quintet" (1955–63) and with pianist Wynton Kelly (1963–68). Biography Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 22, 1935, to Paul Lawrence Chambers and Margaret Echos. He was brought up in Detroit, Michigan following the death of his mother. He began playing music with several of his schoolmates on the baritone horn. Later he took up the tuba. "I got along pretty well, but it's quite a job to carry it around in those long parades, and I didn't like the instrument that much". Bass playing Chambers switched to the double bass around 194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hachette Book Group
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Group. HBG was formed when Hachette Livre purchased the Time Warner Book Group from Time Warner on March 31, 2006. Its headquarters are located at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hachette is considered one of the big-five publishing companies, along with Holtzbrinck/ Macmillan, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. In one year, HBG publishes approximately 1400+ adult books (including 50-100 digital-only titles), 300 books for young readers, and 450 audio book titles (including both physical and downloadable-only titles). In 2017, the company had 167 books on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list, 34 of which reached No. 1. History The earliest publisher to eventually become part of the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz Standards
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be standards changes over time. Songs included in major fake book publications (sheet music collections of popular tunes) and jazz reference works offer a rough guide to which songs are considered standards. Not all jazz standards were written by jazz composers. Many are originally Tin Pan Alley popular songs, Broadway show tunes or songs from Hollywood musicals – the Great American Songbook. In Europe, jazz standards and "fake books" may even include some traditional folk songs (such as in Scandinavia) or pieces of ethnic music (such as gypsy melodies) that have been played with a jazz feel by well known jazz players. A commonly played song can only be considered a jazz standard if ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coltrane Changes
Coltrane changes (Coltrane Matrix or cycle, also known as chromatic third relations and multi-tonic changes) are a harmonic progression variation using substitute chords over common jazz chord progressions. These substitution patterns were first demonstrated by jazz musician John Coltrane on the albums ''Bags & Trane'' (on the track "Three Little Words") and '' Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago'' (on "Limehouse Blues"). Coltrane continued his explorations on the 1960 album ''Giant Steps'' and expanded on the substitution cycle in his compositions "Giant Steps" and "Countdown", the latter of which is a reharmonized version of Eddie Vinson's "Tune Up". The Coltrane changes are a standard advanced harmonic substitution used in jazz improvisation. Function The changes serve as a pattern of chord substitutions for the ii–V–I progression (supertonic– dominant– tonic) and are noted for the tonally unusual root movement by major thirds (either up or down by a major third int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheets Of Sound
Sheets of sound was a term coined in 1958 by ''DownBeat'' magazine jazz critic Ira Gitler to describe the new, unique improvisational style of John Coltrane. Gitler first used the term on the liner notes for ''Soultrane (album), Soultrane'' (1958).Porter 1999, p. 319. Style Coltrane, a saxophonist, employed extremely dense improvisational yet patterned lines consisting of high speed arpeggios and scale patterns played in rapid succession: hundreds of notes running from the lowest to highest registers.Porter 1999, p. 111. The lines are often faster than sixteenth notes, consisting of quintuplets, septuplets, etc., and can sound like glissandos. Coltrane invented this style while playing with Thelonious Monk and developed it further when he returned to Miles Davis' group. Vertical approach Coltrane used the "sheets of sound" lines to liquidise and loosen the strict chords, modes, and harmonies of Hard Bop, whilst still adhering to them (at this stage in his musical development).Coltr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liner Notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are descended from the program notes for musical concerts, and developed into notes that were printed on the inner sleeve used to protect a traditional 12-inch vinyl record, i.e., long playing or gramophone record album. The term descends from the name "record liner" or "album liner". Album liner notes survived format changes from vinyl LP to cassette to CD. These notes can be sources of information about the contents of the recording as well as broader cultural topics. Contents Common material Such notes often contained a mix of factual and anecdotal material, and occasionally a discography for the artist or the issuing record label. Liner notes were also an occasion for thoughtful signed essays on the artist by another party, often a sympathetic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miles Davis Quintet
The Miles Davis Quintet was an American jazz band from 1955 to early 1969 led by Miles Davis. The quintet underwent frequent personnel changes toward its metamorphosis into a different ensemble in 1969. Most references pertain to two distinct and relatively stable bands: the First Great Quintet from 1955 to 1959, and the Second Great Quintet from late 1964 to early 1969, Davis being the only constant throughout. First Great Quintet/Sextet (1955–59) In the summer of 1955, after Davis performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, he was approached by Columbia Records executive George Avakian, who offered him a contract if he could form a regular band. Davis assembled his first regular quintet to meet a commitment at the Café Bohemia in July with Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. By the autumn, Rollins had left to deal with his heroin addiction, and later in the year joined the hard bop quintet led by Cliffor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kind Of Blue
''Kind of Blue'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released on August 17 of that year by Columbia Records. For the recording, Davis led a sextet featuring saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, with new band pianist Wynton Kelly appearing on one track – "Freddie Freeloader" – in place of Evans. Influenced in part by Evans, who had joined the ensemble in 1958, Davis departed further from his early hard bop style in favor of greater experimentation with musical modes, as on his previous album ''Milestones'' (1958). Basing ''Kind of Blue'' entirely on modality, he gave each performer a set of scales that encompassed the parameters of their improvisation and style, and consequently more creative freedom with melodies; Coltrane later expande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lex Humphries
Lex Humphries (August 22, 1936 – July 11, 1994) was an American jazz drummer. He worked with two musicians known for mixing world music with jazz: Sun Ra and Yusef Lateef. As a member of Sun Ra's "Arkestra" he appeared in the film '' Space Is the Place''. Humphries played on the '' Giant Steps'' sessions with John Coltrane. The alternate versions of "Giant Steps", "Naima", and "Like Sonny" that he and Cedar Walton recorded with Coltrane were first released in 1974. He was also the first drummer in the Jazztet, appearing on their first album, '' Meet the Jazztet'', in 1960. He died in Philadelphia in 1994, aged 57. The cause of death was undisclosed, but according to fellow drummer Mickey Roker, he was distraught in his later years due to marital problems and being separated from his son. Discography As sideman With Donald Byrd *'' Fuego'' (1959) *'' Byrd in Flight'' (1960) *''At the Half Note Cafe'' (1963) *'' A New Perspective'' (1963) With John Coltrane *'' Alternate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cedar Walton
Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and composer. Several of his compositions have become jazz standards, including "Mosaic", "Bolivia", "Holy Land", "Mode for Joe" and "Ugetsu/Fantasy in D". Early life Walton was born and grew up in Dallas, Texas."Pianist-Composer Cedar Walton Dies at Age 79" , ''DownBeat'', August 20, 2013. His mother Ruth, an aspiring concert pianist, was his first teacher, and took him to jazz performances around Dallas. Walton cited |
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