Satellite is a contrafact composed by John Coltrane, based on the chord changes of Morgan Lewis's How High the Moon. It was recorded in 1960 and first released on the album Coltrane's Sound on Atlantic Records in 1964. Coltrane reharmonized the familiar progression of How High the Moon by applying his signature approach of cycling through key centers related by major thirds, a technique that became known as Coltrane Changes. The result transforms the underlying standard into a vehicle for the rapid, harmonically dense improvisation that defined this period of his career. The original recording features Coltrane on tenor saxophone with McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums, and the AllSolos database includes Coltrane's tenor saxophone solo from that session. Satellite belongs to the same creative burst that produced Giant Steps and Countdown, compositions in which Coltrane systematically explored symmetric harmonic divisions as a framework for improvisation. While it is less widely performed than some of those companion pieces, Satellite is valued by musicians as a compelling example of how Coltrane could take a well-known harmonic foundation and reshape it into something distinctly his own, offering improvisers a challenging and rewarding set of changes to navigate.
