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"This is an undisputed jazz classic which every jazz lover should have, and this is the format in which it sounds best – in mono, with no distracting alternative takes. There is a stereo version, but stereo recording was in its infancy in 1959 and it lacks the close immediacy of the mono." - The Guardian Giant Steps is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane as leader, released in 1960 on Atlantic Records. This was his first album as leader for his new label Atlantic Records, fresh from the Kind of Blue Sessions with Miles Davis. Many of its tracks have become practice templates for jazz saxophonists.I n 2004, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The recording exemplifies Coltrane's melodic phrasing that came to be known as sheets of sound, and features his explorations into third-related chord movements that came to be known as Coltrane changes. Jazz musicians continue to use the Giant Steps chord progression, which consists of a distinctive set of chords that create key centres a major third apart, as a practice piece and as a gateway into modern jazz improvisation. Several pieces on this album went on to become jazz standards, most prominently "Naima" and "Giant Steps."