Background
In 1959, Miles Davis' business manager Harold Lovett negotiated a record contract for Coltrane with Atlantic, the terms including a $7000 annual guarantee. Initial sessions for this album, the second recording date for Coltrane under his new contract after a January 15 date led by Milt Jackson, took place on March 26, 1959. The results of this session with Cedar Walton and Lex Humphries were not used, but appeared on subsequent compilations and reissues. Principal recording for the album took place on May 4 and 5, two weeks after Coltrane had participated in the final session for Kind of Blue. The track "Naima" was recorded on December 2 with Coltrane's bandmates, the rhythm section from the Miles Davis Quintet, who would provide the backing for most of his next album, Coltrane Jazz.
The recording exemplifies Coltrane's melodic phrasing that came to be known as sheets of sound, and features his explorations into third-related chord movements that came to be known as Coltrane changes. Jazz musicians continue to use the Giant Steps chord progression, which consists of a peculiar set of chords that often move in thirds, as a practice piece and as a gateway into modern jazz improvisation. The ability to play over the "Giant Steps" cycle remains to this day one of the benchmark standards by which a jazz musician's improvising skill is measured. Several pieces on this album went on to become jazz standards, most prominently "Naima" and "Giant Steps."
Read more about this topic: Giant Steps
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