Countdown (John Coltrane song)

Last updated
"Countdown"
Composition by John Coltrane
from the album Giant Steps
Released1960 (1960)
RecordedMay 4, 1959
Studio Atlantic Studios, New York
Genre Jazz, hard bop
Length2:25
Label Atlantic Records
Composer(s) John Coltrane
Producer(s) Nesuhi Ertegün

"Countdown" is a hardbop [1] [2] [3] [4] jazz standard composed by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane that was first featured on his fifth studio album, Giant Steps , in 1960. The song is a contrafact of Miles Davis's "Tune Up", which is reharmonized to the Coltrane changes. [3] [5] The original recording has been described as having "resolute intensity . . . [that] does more to modernize jazz in 141 seconds than many artists do in their entire careers". [6]

Contents

Composition

Chord changes
E-7 F7B♭Δ7 D♭7G♭Δ7 A7DΔ7
D-7 E♭7A♭Δ7 B7EΔ7 G7CΔ7
C-7 D♭7G♭Δ7 A7DΔ7 F7B♭Δ7
E-7F7B♭Δ7A7 [note 1]
Head out
E-7 F7B♭Δ7 D♭7G♭Δ7 F7B♭Δ7 A7
DΔ7 B♭Δ7G♭Δ7 DΔ7B♭Δ7 G♭Δ7D♭Δ7

The song is a 16-bar form. Each four bars incorporates the same tonal centers of "Tune Up", which are D major, C major, and B♭ major.

Each tonal center begins with the ii chord but then cycles through two different keys before arriving at the I chord. The ii chord is followed by a dominant 7 chord that is a half step above—using the first four bars as an example, this would be Em7 and F7. This dominant 7 chord resolves in a V-I manner—F7 to B♭Δ7. The next key center is cycled to by playing the dominant 7th chord a minor third up from the last key center—D♭7 to G♭Δ7 to A7 to DΔ7. The next four bars, and new key, starts by making the I chord the ii of the next key. [7]

Notable recordings

See also

Notes

  1. Some charts also have the final chord as an E♭7(♯11).

References

  1. "Jazz Standard Repertoire - Countdown". standardrepertoire.com. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  2. "John Coltrane "Countdown" — The Jazzomat Research Project". jazzomat.hfm-weimar.de. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  3. 1 2 Coltrane, John (1980). The jazz style of John Coltrane : a musical and historical perspective. Studio 224. OCLC   1043347491.
  4. altrockchick (2014-01-08). "John Coltrane – Giant Steps – Classic Music Review". altrockchick. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  5. Nicholson, Stuart (2021-10-11). "How John Coltrane made Giant Steps". Jazzwise. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  6. Planer, Lindsay. "Giant Steps Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  7. "Countdown". Learn Jazz Standards. 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2022-05-30.