Avec relais — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Avec relais by Gus Viseur — key of G (musette), form A B A C 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
Avec relais is a valse musette by the Belgian-French accordionist Gus Viseur (1915–1974), one of the masters who fused the bal-musette waltz with the jazz he heard in 1930s Paris. His filed-down reeds gave the style a more modern, swinging voice.
The sound — a waltz in G minor, turning on Gm, Cm and the D7 dominant, with diminished passing chords adding colour. That 3/4 lilt with a jazz edge is pure musette-swing.
Practising it — feel the waltz first: a firm bass on beat one, lighter two and three. Drill the G harmonic minor scale and your Gm, Cm and D7 arpeggios, resolving cleanly onto each downbeat.
Avec relais chords — the grille
A : | Gm | Gm | Gm | Gm | Gm | Gm | Cm | Cm | D7 | D7 | D7 | D7 | D7 | D7 | Gm | Gm | Gm | Gm | Gm | Gm | G7 | G7 | F° | Cm | Cm | D7 | Gm | Gm | Cm | D7 | Gm | Gm |
B : | F7 | F7 | B♭ | B♭ | F7 | F7 | B♭ | B♭ | F7 | F7 | B♭ | G7 | C7 | F7 | B♭ | D7 |
C : | G | G | G | G | E♭ | D7 | G | G | B7 | B7 | Em | Em | E♭7 | E♭7 | D7 | D7 | G | G | G | G | E♭ | D7 | G | G | E7 | E7 | Am | Am | A7 | D7 | G | G |
Chords used
Gm · Cm · D7 · G7 · F° · F7 · B♭ · C7 · G · E♭ · B7 · Em · E♭7 · E7 · Am · A7
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Avec relais: 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.