Not much is understood about “Swing Gitan”; it’s so old it’s attributed to “Confidential” (who should get a lots of royalty checks, simply sayin’). But it might have had its origin in a tune called “Stephane Stomp” from an LP made in the ’70s by André Dedjean. [You can find the music for “Swing Gitan” at the bottom of the short article here: https://acousticguitar.com/how-to-play-swing-gitan/.]
Numerous Gypsy-jazz tunes are in G small, and this one is no exception. It’s an A/B tune, which indicates it has no bridge (like “Minor Swing”).
Its A section is stealthily similar to the B section, so it’s simple for players who can’t track such information to get lost. Suffice to state, this detail of A versus B separates the gamers from the fakers at lots of jam sessions. Don’t be among the fakers: if you have difficulty with this, the very best service is to focus on the last 4 bars of the tune for a while until you actually have that turnaround down cold. That method, you will not get lost.
