Joseph Joseph — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Joseph Joseph — key of A (manouche), 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
Adapted from the 1923 Yiddish theatre song Yosl, Yosl (Nellie Casman and Samuel Steinberg), Joseph Joseph was reworked into English by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin and made a hit by the Andrews Sisters in 1938 — a klezmer-tinged tune that swings naturally in manouche hands.
The sound — A minor with a minor-key lilt: Am6 and Dm around an E7 that pulls home, plus a bluesy A7 and F7 for spice. Catchy, singable, with an Eastern-European colour under the swing.
Practising it — work A harmonic minor and the Am6, Dm, E7 arpeggios, targeting E7's G♯ into A. Bring out the F7–E7 move; keep it light and bouncing.
Joseph Joseph chords — the grille
A : | Am6 | Am6 | Am6 | Am6 | Am6 | Am6 | Dm | Dm | E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 | Am6 | E7 | Am6 | Am6 | Am6 | Am6 | A7 | A7 | Dm | Dm | Dm | Dm | Am6 | Am6 | F7 | E7 | Am6 | E7 |
Chords used
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Joseph Joseph: 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.