MICHAEL BRECKER’S “GIANT STEPS”: CHROMATIC IDEAS AND CONNECTIONS

Abstract

Saxophone virtuoso Michael Brecker is considered one of the most intriguing jazz performers of modern times. Brecker was highly praised in jazz circles from the late 70s onwards and appeared in many performances and recordings until his death in 2007. Brecker's performance of Giant Steps (1992) is important in many ways.  Composed by John Coltrane, who is of great historical importance, this piece contains many difficulties in terms of performance due to the constant change of the tonal center and the fact that it is performed at a very fast tempo. Because jazz performance is based on improvisation, and because of the necessity of instantaneous tonal shifts and the need for melodic solo lines (horizontal lines) to progress in harmony with chord progressions (vertical lines), it requires a great deal of knowledge in terms of music theory and harmony. In this context, “chromaticism” or “chromaticism”, which refers to a melody or harmony structure that progresses with single pitch intervals (in the “well-tempered” system where an octave is divided into 12 equal parts), becomes important. Chromatic scales, which are each very convenient material for increasing timbral diversity and creating variations in chordal transitions, have been accepted as an element that enriches the relatively “limited” structure of diatonic scales.  In this way, the music temporarily moves away from the tonal center, and a more “complex” and “richer” harmony, a universe of sound, emerges. In this article, it is aimed to evaluate the chromatic phrase structures encountered in jazz music with the example of Brecker's Giant Steps solo. In this direction, the importance of chromaticism in jazz and bebop styles is emphasized in the introduction, and the results are obtained by analyzing the chromatic connections and approaches in the solo. As a result, alternatives of using chromaticism in the solo are identified, and accordingly, the importance of the solo in bebop repertoire and jazz school is emphasized.