John Coltrane's 1960 Atlantic debut was entitled Giant Steps, and indeed, that's what the saxophonist took on this groundbreaking album.  Intense, dark, probing: the color of his saxophone was all his own.  On September 18, Rhino will celebrate 60 years of Giant Steps with a multi-format anniversary edition encompassing 2-LP and 2-CD sets as well as a digital Super Deluxe Edition for streaming or download.

An early innovator in bebop and hard bop and later a groundbreaker in modal and free jazz, Coltrane eventually became known for his deeply spiritual, moody, avant-garde explorations at Impulse! Records.  But his Atlantic works are among his most accessible.  Coltrane rose up through the ranks of jazz due to his work with Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis in the 1950s, and pioneered what came to be known as "Coltrane changes," or a harmonic progression variation using substitute chords over standard jazz chord progressions. He first explored these changes on the hard-bop Blue Note album Blue Train in 1957, before crystallizing his sound and technique on Giant Steps.  Recorded in New York City in 1959, this seminal, hard-driving LP featuring Coltrane on tenor sax, Paul Chambers on double bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and Art Taylor on drums still packs a considerable punch today.  It consists entirely of Coltrane's own compositions from the exhilarating title track to the beautifully smoky ballad "Naima" (the latter featuring Trane's Kind of Blue cohorts Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb on piano and drums, respectively).

Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be released as a 2-CD or 180-gram double-LP vinyl set.  Both editions include a newly remastered version of the original album plus eight alternate takes.  Both versions are housed in a replica sleeve with replica labels on the discs echoing Giant Steps' first stereo pressing.  Also included in each is a new booklet with liner notes written by Coltrane historian Ashley Kahn as well as the original liner notes, photos, memorabilia images from the Atlantic archive, and more.  Those who order the 2-LP set directly from Rhino.com will also receive a limited edition 7-inch vinyl single with alternate takes of "Giant Steps" and "Naima."

Complementing the physical editions will be Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition for download/streaming only.  It includes the same 15 tracks as the Deluxe Edition plus 20 additional outtakes (all of which have been remastered for this release).  Many of these outtakes have only been available on the 1995 Coltrane CD box set The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings and make their digital debuts here.

In his liner notes for the vinyl and CD packages, Ashley Kahn documents the album's history and also addresses Coltrane's tremendous versatility.  The press release offers an excerpt: "And yet...Giant Steps is Exhibit A of how Coltrane's obsession with the inner mechanics of music could not--and did not--impede his lyrical priority as a soloist, nor his compositional knack for inventing memorable, deeply entrancing melodies.  It never trips over its own intricacies, never loses sight that it is indeed music. The title track connects with an altogether hip, finger-snapping affect. 'Cousin Mary' is a marvel of blues simplicity and smoky, late-night vibe; 'Mr. P. C.' a burner fired by a toe-curling, R&B feel. 'Naima' stands as one of Coltrane's most wistful romantic statements, and 'Syeeda's Song Flute' one of his most playful. 'Countdown' is a dizzying slalom down a mountainside, while 'Spiral' thrills with a more relaxed energy, a gear-shifting exercise."

Kahn continues, "It remains one of the most talked-about albums of the modern era, a set of music all should have and absorb. It is music that has lived up to the grandiosity of its title: the first, yet not final, of John Coltrane's fully realized statements, a point along a comet-like path of creative genius, an indelible marker on the timeline of popular music. It is a jazz classic recognized far beyond jazz circles. What more could a true artist hope to achieve?"

Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (CD/2-LP) and Super Deluxe Edition (digital/streaming) are both available on September 18 from Rhino.

John Coltrane, Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic SD 1311, 1960 - reissued Atlantic/Rhino, 2020)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Side One / CD 1

1. "Giant Steps"
2. "Cousin Mary"
3. "Countdown"
4. "Spiral"

Side Two / CD 1

1. "Syeeda's Song Flute"
2. "Naima"
3. "Mr. P.C."

Side Three / CD 2

1. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 1, Incomplete)
2. "Naima" (Alternate Take)
3. "Like Sonny" (Alternate Take)
4. "Countdown" (Alternate Take)

Side Four / CD 2

1. "Syeeda's Song Flute" (Alternate Take)
2. "Cousin Mary" (Alternate Take)
3. "Giant Steps" (Alternate Version Two False Start)
4. "Giant Steps" (Alternate Take)

John Coltrane, Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (Atlantic SD 1311, 1960 - reissued Atlantic/Rhino, 2020) (Streaming/Download Only)

1. "Giant Steps"
2. "Cousin Mary"
3. "Countdown"
4. "Spiral"
5. "Syeeda's Song Flute"
6. "Naima"
7. "Mr. P.C."
8. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 1, Incomplete)
9. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 2, False Start)
10. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 3, Incomplete)
11. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 4, Incomplete)
12. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 5)
13. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 6, False Start)
14. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 7, Incomplete)
15. "Giant Steps" (Alternate, Take 8)
16. "Naima" (Alternate, Take 1, False Start)
17. "Naima" (Alternate, Take 2, Incomplete)
18. "Naima" (Alternate, Take 3)
19. "Naima" (Alternate, Take 4, False Start)
20. "Naima" (Alternate, Take 5)
21. "Naima" (Alternate, Take 6)
22. "Like Sonny" (Rehearsal 1, False Start)
23. "Like Sonny" (Rehearsal 2, Incomplete)
24. "Like Sonny" (Alternate, Take 1, False Start)
25. "Like Sonny" (Alternate, Take 2, Incomplete)
26. "Like Sonny" (Alternate, Take 3, Incomplete)
27. "Like Sonny" (Alternate, Take 4, False Start)
28. "Like Sonny" (Alternate, Take 5)
29. "Like Sonny" (Alternate, Take 6, Incomplete)
30. "Like Sonny" (Alternate, Take 7)
31. "Countdown" (Alternate Take)
32. "Syeeda's Song Flute" (Alternate Take)
33. "Cousin Mary" (Alternate Take)
34. "Giant Steps" Take 3 (Incomplete)
35. "Giant Steps" Take 6 (Alternate)​