Big Nick is a composition by John Coltrane, written in 1962 as a tribute to tenor saxophonist George "Big Nick" Nicholas, a protege of Coleman Hawkins who was a friend and musical colleague of Coltrane's. The tune is notable for its spritely, witty character, projecting a kind of humor and lightheartedness not often found in Coltrane's compositions, which tend toward the dramatic and intense. The melody opens with an eight-note figure borrowed directly from the opening of Francis Poulenc's Impromptu No. 3, a piano piece composed in 1920-1921. Coltrane takes this classical anchor point and develops it into an original, bouncing theme that diverges entirely from Poulenc's harmonic and melodic continuation. The connection to Poulenc is fitting given that Nicholas had introduced Coltrane to classical music; the two had played along with recordings of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, sometimes performing the exact lines and other times improvising over them. Coltrane first recorded Big Nick in April 1962 with his quartet at Rudy Van Gelder's studio, though it was not released until 1964 on the compilation The Definitive Jazz Scene Volume 1. A second version was recorded in September 1962 during sessions with Duke Ellington. Despite its charm, Big Nick has remained a relatively rarely performed composition, with the Tony Williams Lifetime recording one of the few notable covers outside Coltrane's own versions.
