Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) by Fred Fisher — key of F (swing), 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
Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) was written in 1922 by Fred Fisher and became a swing standard, famously recorded by Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. Its bounce makes it a fun up-tempo manouche vehicle.
The sound — a bright, cheerful swing in F major, driven by a cycle of secondary dominants (C7, G7, A7, D7) and an F7 pushing to the B♭ (IV), with a Bm7♭5–D7 turn.
Practising it — this is a workout in resolving dominants: arpeggiate each 7th chord and target the third of the next. Drill the F major scale and the cycle of fifths through the changes. Keep the swing feel light and drive the tempo.
Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) chords — the grille
A : | F | F | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | F | C7 | F | F | G7 | G7 | C7 | C7 | F | C7 | F | F | C7 | C7 | A7 | A7 | Dm | F7 | B♭ | Bø | F | D7 | G7 | C7 | F | F |
Chords used
F · C7 · G7 · A7 · Dm · F7 · B♭ · Bø · D7
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Chicago (That Toddlin' Town): 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.