Giant Steps: Bebop and the Creators of Modern Jazz, 1945-65

by Kenny Mathieson

Giant Steps examines the most important figures in the creation of modern jazz, detailing the emergence of bebop through the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Using this as its starting point, Giant Steps subsequently delves into the developments of jazz composition, modal jazz and free jazz. The music of each of these great masters is examined in detail and will provide both a fine introduction for the large audience newly attracted to the music but unsure of their direction through it, as well as an entertaining and informative read for those with a more substantial background.

Genres: Music, Jazz, Nonfiction

340 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Kenny Mathieson is a freelance Scottish writer. He has written on jazz, classical and folk music for several publications, as well as contributing to numerous reference books. He studied American and English literature at the University of East Anglia, graduating with a PhD in 1983. He now lives in the Highlands.

Mathieson covered jazz music for Scotland on Sunday for four years from 1988, before moving to The Scotsman. where he performed the role for 23 years.

He is the author of Giant Steps: Bebop and the Creators of Modern Jazz 1945 - 1965 and Cookin’: Hard Bop and Soul Jazz 1954 - 65.

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have read chronicling the history of jazz with vivid biographical sketches of many of those who made the music so magical. It must be said that it was (and to a large degree remains) a male-dominated world and the book profiles only men, personally I know of no stand out female musicians of the bebop period unfortunately. In any case, Mathiesen does an excellent job of evoking the birth and evolution of bebop from the late 40s to the mid 60s by profiling legends and their disc catalogs bringing fascinating insights into why, say Saxophone Colossus or Mingus Ah Um or Kind of Blue are viewed by jazz fans and musicians equally as monumental recordings. I really appreciated the chronological arrangement of the artists treated and the details about the various recordings - even those beyond the book’s bebop scope. The bibliography and discography included are also absolutely essential. It is regrettable in the extreme that he stopped after two books of a promised three, but I am impatient to start reading Cookin’, the sequel to Giant Steps which takes bebop towards new forms of funk and fusion.

I hope someone will write a book about epic sax solos over the years. For me, there would be Illinois Jacquet’s solo of Flyin' Home (that was SOOO influential) in 1942 with Hamp’s big band, Bird on Ko Ko from 1945; Paul Gonsalves' blistering and crowd-exploding solo at Newport with Ellington from 1956, Trane at Birdland on I Want to Talk About You in 1963.

A must read for the casual jazz fan but also for the seasoned listener!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice structured collection of overlapping mini-biographies of the creators and innovators of bebop, moving into the development of hard bop and modal jazz. My faves herein obviously start with Diz and Bird, then onto Max Roach (with a solid section on his collaborator Clifford Brown), Monk, Sonny Rollins, Miles and Trane. I look forward most to reading a chapter on Dexter Gordon in the next volume.

[- - · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picks 11 individuals and profiles them in huge detail, taking us from the birth of bop through post-bop and hinting at Miles/Coltrane's subsequent directions.