Balajo — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Balajo by Jo Privat — 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
Balajo is a valse musette by accordionist Jo Privat (1919–1996), who reigned over the Parisian Balajo dance hall from his 1936 residency and blended musette with manouche and American jazz — he played alongside Django and the Ferret brothers.
The sound — unusually for a musette waltz, it sits in G major, giving it a bright, singing lilt over changes rich in Privat's signature colour (watch the diminished passing chords and the Cm6).
Practising it — settle the 3/4 pulse with a solid downbeat, then work G major arpeggios and the chromatic passing dims. Take the melody slowly and let it breathe before adding ornaments.
Balajo chords — the grille
A : | G | E♭9 | G | G | G/B | B♭° | D7 | E7 | Am | Am | D7 | D7 | Am | Cm6 | G/B | D7/A | G | E♭9 | G | G | E7 | E7 | Am | Am | Am | Cm6 | G | E7 | A7 | D7 | G | G |
B : | A7 | A7 | D | D | A7 | A7 | F° | D/F# | F#7 | F#7 | Bm | Em | D | A7 | D7 | D7 |
C : | C | C | C | C | C | C | G7 | G7 | E7 | E7 | Am | Am | D7 | D7 | G7 | G7 | C | C | C | C | A7 | A7 | Dm | Dm | Fm6 | Fm6 | C | A7 | D7 | G7 | C | C |
Chords used
G · E♭9 · B♭° · D7 · E7 · Am · Cm6 · A7 · D · F° · F#7 · Bm · Em · C · G7 · Dm · Fm6
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Balajo: 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.