Caravan — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Caravan by Duke Ellington & Juan Tizol & Irving Mills — key of F (swing), form A A B 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
Caravan was composed in 1936 by trombonist Juan Tizol with Duke Ellington (lyrics by Irving Mills), first recorded that year. Endlessly covered, it is a favourite exotic vehicle in swing and manouche jam sessions.
The sound — an F-based tune whose A sections hover on a dominant (C7) for a hypnotic, Middle-Eastern feel, then open into a brighter, straighter bridge. The tension is all in that long dominant.
Practising it — over the C7 vamp, explore the C Phrygian-dominant (Spanish) sound and the ♭9; arpeggiate C7 and lean on its exotic tensions. Contrast with clean major lines on the bridge. Great for building dominant-scale vocabulary.
Caravan chords — the grille
A : | A7 | B♭7 | A7 | A7 | A7 | B♭7 | A7 | A7 | A7 | B♭7 | A7 | A7 | Dm | Dm | Dm | Dm |
B : | D7 | D7 | D7 | D7 | G7 | G7 | G7 | G7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | F | F | A7 | A7 |
Chords used
A7 · B♭7 · Dm · D7 · G7 · C7 · F
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Caravan: 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.