Blues-ette

On the title track of Coltrane's 1959 Giant Steps, pianist Tommy Flanagan reportedly hadn't fully absorbed the tune's dense chord changes before the take, and his solo trails off into near silence. The album's signature piece is remembered as much for its accompanist's hesitation as for its harmonic breakthrough.

Brought in to rebuild the Jazz Messengers in 1958, Benny Golson recruited the new lineup — Bobby Timmons on piano among them — and wrote most of Moanin'. The tune that ended up defining the record was the title track, written by the pianist he had just hired. Golson was gone within months.