GET READY!

The Django Camp Core Repertoire

Our “Core Repertoire” consists of a collection of tunes you can use to prepare for Django Camp.  If you don’t learn them, you won’t be alone and you’ll be fine. But if you do it will be that much easier to find people to jam with while you are here. And since the teachers know we’ve recommended these tunes to you, they may choose to use them in their classes. So working on these songs well in advance of Django in June is a good investment of time and energy.

Our Core Repertoire is divided into two “tiers” of standard Gypsy Jazz songs:

• Tier 1 is where everyone planning to attend this event should begin building a jam repertoire. It  is made up of standards that will be familiar to any experienced Gypsy jazz musician. Learn as many as you can by heart—et voilà, you’re in.
  
• Tier 2 offers a few more compositions we recommend for people who already know all the Tier 1 tunes. Usually (as is the case this year) we draw these from the repertoire of European artists we’ve invited to join us this year. Sometimes they, too, are familiar GJ standards, sometimes not. In any case, they provide experienced Gypsy jazzers more, and maybe some new, common ground for jamming here or back home.

Tier 1 & 2 Tunes for 2025

Tier 1

All the Tier 1 tunes listed here are in the two Gypsy Jazz Standards booklets Jack Soref has prepared. There are links further down the page that allow you to download these booklets in the format of your choice. ALL of the tunes in those booklets are good to know for jamming, but here are 8 we will give special attention to in 2025:

• Bossa Dorado
• Coquette
• Daphne
• Dark Eyes
• Honeysuckle Rose
• Je Suis Seul ce Soir
• Joseph Joseph
• Swing 39

Tier 2

These tunes are drawn from the repertoire of the quartet (with us at DiJ this year) made up of Fapy Lafertin, Tcha Limberger, Dave Kelbie and Vilmos Csikos. Click the tune’s name for a reference recording of it. Lead sheets are available for download (to the right of the tune’s name) in three formats: standard notation in concert C, standard notation in Bb, and standard notation plus guitar TAB. Take your pick!

• Mit Mur Geige: Standard, Standard Bb, Standard and TAB
• Black and White: Standard, Standard Bb, Standard and TAB
• Irisha: Standard, Standard Bb, Standard and TAB
• What a Difference a Day Made: Standard, Standard Bb, Standard and TAB
• Sweet Chorus: Standard, Standard Bb, Standard and TAB

Jack’s Two Booklets for Download

All the Tier 1 tunes listed above — plus a bunch of other very common GJ tunes — can be found in these two booklets. Just choose your prefered format.

Gypsy Jazz Standards Volume 1 (Note new edition, as of March 2024!)

24 Gypsy Jazz Standards – Standard and TAB (2nd Edition)

24 Gypsy Jazz Standards – Notation Only (2nd Edition)

24 Gypsy Jazz Standards – Bb Edition (2nd Edition)

Gypsy Jazz Standards Volume 2

Gypsy Jazz Standards, Vol 2 – Standard and TAB

Gypsy Jazz Standards, Vol 2 – Standard

Gypsy Jazz Standards, Vol 2 – Standard Bb

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Other Materials

Jack, with some help from other friends of DiJ, has prepared other support materials for people learning the tunes in Vol. 1 of Gypsy Jazz Standards, and these are listed below. Feel free to make use of whatever is useful to you.

Reference Recordings and Play-Along Videos

Swing by this page for reference recordings and play-along rhythm tracks for all the tunes in Volume 1 of Jack’s Gypsy Jazz Standards.

Support Materials for 24 Gypsy Jazz Standards

Chord Voicings for For Rhythm Guitarists

Here’s a companion booklet for guitarists with some suggested chord voicings to use on each of the 24 GJ Standards.

24_GJ_Standards_Chord_Shapes