Premier Bal — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Premier Bal by Sydney Bechet — key of D (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
Premier Bal was written by the New Orleans soprano-sax giant Sidney Bechet (lyrics by Bernard Dimey) and released in 1958, during his celebrated late-career years in France. It has crossed happily into the gypsy-swing repertoire.
The sound - a D minor tune turning on the iv-V-i cadence (Gm6, A7, Dm), with a D7 reaching over to Gm and a warm F major release.
Practising it - work the D harmonic minor scale and the A7 arpeggio, voicing its ♭9 as it resolves to Dm. Let the Gm6 sing, and keep the swing buoyant rather than heavy.
Premier Bal chords — the grille
A : | Gm6 | A7 | Dm | Dm | Gm6 | A7 | Dm | Dm | Cm6 | D7 | Gm | Gm | G7 | G7 | C7 | A7 | Gm6 | A7 | Dm | Dm | Cm6 | D7 | Gm | Gm | Gm | A♭° | Dm | D7 | Gm | C7 | F | F |
Chords used
Gm6 · A7 · Dm · Cm6 · D7 · Gm · G7 · C7 · A♭° · F
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Premier Bal: 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.