The Japanese Sandman: chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
The Japanese Sandman by Richard A. Whiting & Raymond B. Egan, key of F (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
Composed by Richard A. Whiting with lyrics by Raymond B. Egan in 1920, The Japanese Sandman was a million-seller as the B-side of Paul Whiteman's "Whispering", one of the earliest pop hits of the record era, later adopted by gypsy-jazz players.
The sound: F major that ranges widely: a D7–Gm–C7 turnaround, a bright A major, an E7, a B♭-to-B♭m (IV–iv) shift and G♭°7/F°7 passing diminisheds; harmonically richer than its age suggests.
Practising it: anchor on the Gm–C7–F ii–V–I, then negotiate the D7 and E7 secondary dominants with their arpeggios; let the diminished chords teach you chromatic connection. Medium swing.
The Japanese Sandman chords: the grille
A : | F | F | D7 | D7 | Gm | C7 | F | C7 | F | F | A | A | E7 | E7 | A F#° | Gm C7 | F | F7 | B♭ | B♭ | B♭m | B♭m | C7 | C7 | F | F | F° | F° | F Dm | Gm C7 | F | F |
Chords used
F · D7 · Gm · C7 · A · E7 · F#° · F7 · B♭ · B♭m · F° · Dm
Play along
Open the interactive grille for The Japanese Sandman: 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.