Obvious ILM sucker set-up, right? Pit an recognized classic against an merely acknowledged underdog and favor the underdog.
But these were two of the first jazz albums I ever picked up, also recorded around the same time, and over the years Coltrane's Sound is the one I keep going back to. Giant Steps is a breakthrough album, no doubt, his first for Atlantic and the first where he introduced his famous Giant Steps chord change matrix. But Coltrane's Sound has him much more settled in to his concept, now masterfully building on the ideas introduced on GS and comfortable with the group he first recorded with on My Favorite Things.
Track for track it becomes clear:
1) The Night Has a Thousand Eyes >>> Giant Steps
- I know, I know. But Giant Steps, while great, always sounds too much like an exercise to me (I think he himself later said something along those lines). And Thousand Eyes uses that great Coltrane tactic of alternating between a one-note pedal and complex changes to build excitement.
2)Central Park West >>> Cousin Mary
The latter is a neat take on a blues changes and swings really hard, but Central Park West is one of the prettiest things ever written. (BTW it also shifts between a pedal point and Giant-Steps-based changes)
3)Liberia > Spiral
I dunno, Spiral is ok, but it always sounded a little like a B-side to me. And Body and Soul is probably one of the best reinterpretations of a standard ever. (AND AGAIN WITH THE PEDAL vs. STEPS CHANGES!)
5)Equinox >>> Syeeda's Flute Song
I really like Syeeda's Flute Song, especially the creeping intro. But Equinox is also too pretty for words.
6) Satelite == Naima
Man, this was too tough. Naima is even better than Central Park West or Equinox, but Satelite is my favorite tune on Coltrane's Sound. Again with the pedal/giantsteps changes thing, but it's here that Coltrane actually sounds like what I imagine he WANTED to sound like on Giant Steps. What a great, scary, dark tune, and it turns into a real burner too. Nothing in jazz sounds like it.
7) 26-2
― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Thursday, 14 September 2006 03:05 (nineteen years ago)
Spiral is ok, but it always sounded a little like a B-side to me.[Puts on "Trivia Boy" hat.]
"Naima" was an actual B-side (of the "Cousin Mary" 45); the take used was recorded during the sessions that produced much of Coltrane Jazz.
The material for the Bags and Trane LP actually predates Giant Steps by a few months, but didn't get released for a couple of years.
Coltrane's Sound is sort of an odds-and-sods collection of leftovers from the sessions that produced Coltrane Jazz and Coltrane Plays The Blues, and was released when Trane was well into his Impulse tenure. But because it shows him further along in summing up his hard-bop past and building towards the Impulse classics to come, I've always favored it over Giant Steps.
― mark 0 has gone off the internet because of travel (mark 0), Thursday, 14 September 2006 11:23 (nineteen years ago)
I always think that Giant Steps isn't my favorite, but then I listen and remember how awesome Syeeda's, Naima, and Mr. PC are.
For some reason I never bought Coltrane's Sound. 'Equinox' used to be a favorite tune, but I think it's been ruined by countless jam sessions and pick-up gigs. 'Night Has 1000 Eyes' reminds me of The Price is Right theme song (if I'm thinking of the right tune).
― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 14 September 2006 20:26 (nineteen years ago)
fourteen years pass...