Cousin Mary

The piece Cousin Mary, with its 5 minutes and 45 seconds of duration, is a fascinating example of the sonic exploration that John Coltrane was undertaking. Recorded on May 5, 1959, at Atlantic Studios in New York, this composition would later be included on the album Giant Steps, released in January 1960. It was Coltrane’s first work as a leader for the Atlantic Records label, a record company with which he had signed a new contract the previous year.

This album, Giant Steps, is considered a milestone in jazz history, and many of its pieces have become references for saxophonists studying the instrument. In fact, in 2004, the Library of Congress selected Giant Steps among fifty recordings to be added to the National Recording Registry. The album achieved gold certification in 2018 after selling 500,000 copies. In the recording of Cousin Mary, Coltrane’s tenor saxophone engages in dialogue with the piano of Tommy Flanagan, the bass of Paul Chambers, and the drums of Art Taylor, under the production of Nesuhi Ertegun.