Avalon — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Avalon by Buddy DeSylva & Vincent Rose & Al Jolson — key of F (manouche), form A. Below is the full chord grid; on Haute Gitanerie you can play along with a scrolling chord ribbon, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and switch on a rhythm backing (la pompe) to practise your solos over the changes.
About
Avalon is a 1920 American song by Al Jolson, Buddy DeSylva and Vincent Rose (its opening so resembled Puccini's Tosca that a lawsuit followed). It became a favourite jam vehicle for swing players, Django Reinhardt among them.
The sound — bright and up-tempo in F major, but it kicks off on C7, the dominant, snapping back to F. From there it cycles through crisp changes built for blowing at speed.
Practising it — get the C7 → F resolution clean, then drill F major and C7 arpeggios. Lock in a steady pompe first and only push the tempo once the changes feel automatic.
Avalon chords — the grille
A : | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | F | F C7♯5 | F | F | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | F | F C7♯5 | F | F | D7 | Aø | D7 | D7 | Gm | Gm | B♭m | B♭m B° | F | F | D7 | D7 | Gm | C7 | F | F |
Chords used
C7 · F · C7♯5 · D7 · Aø · Gm · B♭m · B°
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Avalon: loop any section, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and play over a rhythm accompaniment — with a real recorded pompe on featured tunes. In the browser, free.