"Big Nick" is a John Coltrane original recorded for the 1962 album Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. Named for the tenor saxophonist Big Nick Nicholas, whom Coltrane admired, this medium-tempo swinger features Coltrane on soprano saxophone, an instrument he had recently adopted and was rapidly mastering. Coltrane's two-chorus soprano solo over the 32-bar AABA form in G major reveals a lighter, more melodic side of his playing than his tenor work often displayed, the soprano's bright, nasal timbre lending a vocal quality to his improvisations. Ellington follows with a characteristically elegant piano chorus, his sophisticated harmonic sense and rhythmic wit bringing a distinctly different flavor to the same chord changes. The contrast between Coltrane's searching, harmonically dense improvisation and Ellington's urbane, swing-era sophistication is one of the album's great pleasures, demonstrating how two radically different musical sensibilities could find common ground. The rhythm section features members from both leaders' regular groups, and the easy interplay suggests the mutual respect that permeated this historic session.
