The Coltrane tribute closes with the most iconic and technically demanding composition in the program, taken at a blazing 265 BPM. The 16-bar form's signature pattern of major-third key center shifts has been a rite of passage for jazz musicians since Coltrane first recorded it in 1959 for Atlantic Records. Lefkowitz-Brown delivers eleven choruses on tenor saxophone, navigating the rapidly shifting tonal centers at high speed, while Feifke follows with eight choruses on piano. The nearly six-minute performance serves as a fitting climax to a set that has traced different facets of Coltrane's musical legacy — from show tunes he adopted to spiritual suites to harmonic innovations. Placing Giant Steps as the closer gives the program a natural arc, building from the relatively conventional standard that opened the set to the composition that fundamentally changed how jazz musicians think about harmony. The piece's unique chord progression, based on symmetrical divisions of the octave, continues to challenge improvisers more than six decades after its creation.
