60 Giant Steps – A Cosmic Reimagining of John Coltrane by GODTET (Live)

Visuals by Christopher Cooper & Swicked

World Premiere: A New Commissioned Performance from the Sydney Opera House

WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised. This presentation may trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.

Digital Season | Streamed live from the Joan Sutherland Theatre

On Demand
Genre: Contemporary Music

Celebrating the 60^th anniversary of John Coltrane’s revolutionary composition ‘Giant Steps’, Sydney’s own psychedelic jazz explorers GODTET will expand the original’s four minute blast of hyper-speed virtuosity into a 40 minute meditation on Coltrane’s creativity, spirituality, and how our perceptions of identity, time and place have changed in the face of 2020.

A bespoke live-streamed performance commissioned exclusively for Sydney Opera House featuring specially created visuals by illustrator Christopher Cooper and animator Swicked, 60 Giant Steps unravels the mythical status that Coltrane’s opus gained upon release in 1960. A babel-like structure of rapid fire key changes that pushed the Circle of Fifths music theory to extreme lengths, 60 years on ‘Giant Steps’ maintains its reputation as the most revered and feared piece to play in the canon of jazz. 

Enter Godriguez. A prolific producer, beat-maker and guitarist who has led the charge in a new Australian jazz movement since his soulful touch was heard all over Sampa the Great’s breakthrough mixtape in 2015, his quintet GODTET have released a string of critically acclaimed improvised albums, sparking fans from France’s globetrotting tastemaker Gilles Peterson through to Melbourne contemporaries Hiatus Kaiyote. Now set to release three new albums in 2020 beginning with the single-take-to-tape sessions Suite unleashed this month, the electro-acoustic improvisers will tackle the Coltrane classic by creating a sample-bathed delight that expands its principle melody into a serene interplay of guitar, bass, drums, grand piano, and a swathe of synthesisers and percussion.  

Featuring world-building, animated illustrations drawn from Coltrane’s own inspirations in quantum physics through to the geometric shapes and cyclical patterns seen in music theory, 60 Giant Steps is a spectral voyage for all fans of jazz – uniting rare record collectors and genre-jumpers alike in tribute to the communal power and spiritual transcendence of live music. In a year of unequivocal change, sit back and soak up the cosmic sounds and time-travelling visuals of GODTET, Christopher Cooper, and Swicked in this world premiere performance beamed live from the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage.