Chez Jacquet — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Chez Jacquet by Django Reinhardt — key of D (manouche), form A A B 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
Chez Jacquet (also known as Gin Gin) is a Django Reinhardt composition — a gypsy waltz in D major that Django himself never recorded but which Matelo Ferret and later players kept alive in the manouche waltz canon.
The sound — a 3/4 waltz in D that moves chromatically: D to D♭, A7 and G♭7 dominants, a turn through Bm and E7. That sliding chromaticism gives it its elegant, wistful character.
Practising it — lock the waltz feel first, then trace the chromatic bass and voice-lead through the dominants. Arpeggiate A7 and E7, target their thirds into the next chord, and keep the 3/4 lilt breathing. Take the shifts slowly at first.
Chez Jacquet chords — the grille
A : | D | D♭ | D♭ | D♭ | D/F# | D/F# | A7 | A7 | F#7 | F#7 | Bm | Bm | E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 | D | D | D | D | B7 | B7 | Em | Em | G | A♭° | D | B7 | E7 | A7 | D | D |
B : | E7 | E7 | A | A | E7 | E7 | A | A | F#7 | F#7 | Bm | Bm | A♭7 | A♭7 | C#m | C#m | E7 | E7 | A | A | E7 | E7 | A | A | E7 | E7 | A | A | E7 | E7 | A | A |
Chords used
D · D♭ · A7 · F#7 · Bm · E7 · B7 · Em · G · A♭° · A · A♭7 · C#m
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Chez Jacquet: 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.