AOTW- July 3rd 2005

[Soul Stream]

It's also curious to think that the Giant Steps and Kind of Blue sessions took place literally interweaving each other. I can't think of two more different styles of playing required, yet Coltrane not only managed both but set the watermark for everyone else that followed those two paths of thought.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Oh come on - those things aren't that different from each other. Both feature 4/4 swing, chorus structures, tonality of one kind or another. Managing both is a piece of cake - even then. I will certainly agree that Coltrane played absolutely wonderfully on both albums.

Mike

[Soul Stream]

Oh come on - those things aren't that different from each other. Both feature 4/4 swing, chorus structures, tonality of one kind or another. Managing both is a piece of cake - even then. I will certainly agree that Coltrane played absolutely wonderfully on both albums.

Mike

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I can't tell if you're kidding or not...especially the piece of cake part.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I am not kidding at all.

Mike

[Soul Stream]

Well, I'm certainly no expert on this subject as you would be Mike. But I guess when I think about Miles saying Sonny Stitt couldn't play on So What at the time.... The idea of such unbelievable facility both vertically and horizontally, much less throwing in the idea of composing much of this material. I'm not sure who else was capable of doing this at the time. Much less simultaneously. Just my thoughts, but I don't claim to really know much about anything. Mine might seem like sophomoric meanderings of which I would be the first to admit. However, if you can spare the time, please expand on what you're saying....

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Well, I don't know about taking Miles Davis at his word. Sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don't. But Stitt was never one for stepping outside his comfort zone. Look at his entire career - he had his thing and he did it, basically the same start to finish.

I don't want to give the impression that Kind Of Blue and Giant Steps aren't great records. They certainly are. My point was that they aren't so extreme. Those are instances of jazz that are if not next-door neighbors, then the next town over. I mean, Benny Goodman playing Bartok and then the blues, that's more extreme. Keith Jarrett's career has wider extremes, John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, lots of folks.

And the vertical vs. horizontal thing has been overemphasized, in my view.

Mike

[mikeweil]

Mike, as far as musical analysis is concerned, I agree with you on the similarities between Kind of Blue and Giant Steps. But these two albums transport totally different moods, and I think that's in part what Soul Stream referred too.