Archives: Episode 53, The Jazz Solo Part 2

Discovering Jazz

I explore the controversies related to Tommy Flanagan's solo on Coltrane's Giant steps, plus Cannonball Adderley's solo in Milestones.

One jazz writer stated "With Giant steps Coltrane supplanted Cherokee as the litmus test for aspiring improvisers, packing so many harmonic substitutions into one progression that at first blush, consummate pianist Tommy Flanagan could barely eke his way through the changes". So how bad was Flanagans's solo? And was Coltrane's solo so powerful that it could cause us to experience vertigo (as one reviewer suggested).

Then there's that controversy around Cannonball Adderley's solo in Miles (aka Milestones). Fred Hersch said it 'shone'. Another writer said he 'struggled' because he tried to play it like bebop rather than like modal music. You be the judge.

Other solos featured are by Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Guido Basso, Ornette Coleman, Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, and Charlie Christian.