A lively early jazz song with diminished approaches and a recurring major-to-minor subdominant colour. Clear articulation and short answers help retain its buoyant character.
If you study one thing
Keep the subdominant colour change light and clear.
Owner content reviewed — 2026-10-04T23:08:36Z by admin. Coverage measures presence, not accuracy. Content review does not certify rights or musical perfection.
See what is here and what is missing
✓ Recording evidence
✓ Key & form
✓ Chart
✓ History
✓ Playing notes
✓ Practice plan
✓ Backing track
✓ Django recording
✓ Django solo study aid
✓ Illustration
✓ Sources
✓ Difficulty
Django's Recordings
Django recordings for this tune. Uploader dates and take labels remain source claims; only an evidenced exact association enables a row’s Listen control.
2 historical recording entries · source text preserved
Entry
Year
Recording / session / release evidence
Listen
01
1936
Nagasaki, 15/10/36, OLA 1290-1 ,"Fremeaux FA 305, Classics 739, EMI 746 5012 (Mistitled Minor Swing) , Affinity AFS 1003, JSP 344, Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set).", - Paris - Louis Vola (b) replaces Simoens
—
02
1949
Nagasaki, Jan-Feb 1949, CW 25,"Fremeaux FA 316, Jazz Time 827447-2"," - Rome - Django Reinhardt (g), Stephane Grappelly (v),Gianni Safred (p), Carlo Pecori (b), Aurelio de Carolis (d)"
—
A dash means no video has been associated with this exact historical recording. Tune-level listening resources remain available above.
History & Listening
Nagasaki is credited here to Harry Warren. The source date is 1928; publication, composition and later lyric adaptations may have separate dates. The inherited archive lists 2 recording entries, with dated entries spanning 1936–1949. These are archive rows, not a claim that every entry is a distinct released take. The linked recording rows preserve the original discographical wording. Compare their dates, matrices and personnel when choosing a performance to study.
Tune details
Music: Harry Warren
Words: Mort Dixon
Published / composed / adapted — see history: 1928
Original key: Not established
Study level: Intermediate; advanced where the inherited roadmap needs reconstruction
Melody & head
Use crisp phrase endings and leave space for the next pickup.
Listening task: Use crisp phrase endings and leave space for the next pickup. Mark the key, pickup, phrase lengths and ending before comparing another version.
Session evidence
Nagasaki, 15/10/36, OLA 1290-1 ,"Fremeaux FA 305, Classics 739, EMI 746 5012 (Mistitled Minor Swing) , Affinity AFS 1003, JSP 344, Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set).", - Paris - Louis Vola (b) replaces Simoens
Compare the first and last listed entries for tempo, instrumentation and arrangement. Do not infer identical takes from a shared title. Keep the subdominant colour change light and clear.
Session evidence
Nagasaki, Jan-Feb 1949, CW 25,"Fremeaux FA 316, Jazz Time 827447-2"," - Rome - Django Reinhardt (g), Stephane Grappelly (v),Gianni Safred (p), Carlo Pecori (b), Aurelio de Carolis (d)"
The inherited chart is in C major. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score.
Chart & Form
C and C♯ diminished move toward G7 over D. E7 leads into F–Fm colour, while the bridge repeats F–Fm–C before D7–G7.
Chord symbols and source cell divisions are preserved from Djangopedia. Slashes mark rhythm; 0 is inherited diminished notation whose exact voicing should be checked against the melody. This is a chord reference, not a melody transcription.
DjangoKOR · The inherited chart is in C major. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score. · 3:45
Checked 2026-10-01
How this resource was selected
Most-viewed suitable match selected from the captured search results after title/composition review; not a complete YouTube ranking. Source counts were captured on 1 October 2026. Coaching, unrelated songs and non-backing performances are excluded.
Study Django's Solo
Performed studies, transcriptions, TAB, notation and lessons for studying Django’s solo. Resources are described by their creator; inclusion does not certify note-for-note accuracy.
Warren/Dixon’s 1928 standard has 1936 Paris and 1949 Rome Django entries, in C-major AABA. Its practice emphasises F to F-minor colour and short answers. The photograph shows guitar and violin players facing one another.
An original editorial interpretation of the tune. This is an illustration, not an archival photograph or a documented reconstruction of a recording session.
Original Djangopedia illustration · AI-assisted, 2026
Start with the chord tones of each written harmony. Lower A to A♭ when F becomes Fm.
Use passing notes only after the destination chord and phrase length are secure; this guide does not assign one scale indiscriminately to the whole tune.
Play the bridge with A–A♭–G on top of F–Fm–C. Then improvise a two-note answer that leaves the final beat of each phrase empty.
Comping & voicings
Keep the diminished approaches light and the F–Fm change connected. A steady pulse matters more than a large voicing on every chord.
Voicing note sets
C6: C–E–A; F: F–A–C; Fm: F–A♭–C; G7: G–B–F.
Keep the accompaniment clear
Keep a quiet, even swing pulse, adjusting its density to the melody and ensemble.
Practise one chorus with only two chord attacks per bar, then restore four without changing tempo.
Making each diminished approach an accented interruption.
Crowding the melody with dense extensions or doubling another accompanist’s register.
Practice room
Start around 100–140 bpm; increase only after the form stays secure
Your assignment
Play the bridge with A–A♭–G on top of F–Fm–C. Then improvise a two-note answer that leaves the final beat of each phrase empty.
Loop these changes
Lower A to A♭ when F becomes Fm.
Resolve F on G7 into E on C.
Metronome
Begin with four quarter-note clicks. Halve the click rate and hear beats 2 and 4 while maintaining the same phrase lengths.
Transposition
Transpose the first complete phrase up a whole step, including its cadence. Name chord functions before finding new fingerings.
Return to C major and play the melodic phrase from memory.
At the session
Nagasaki — C major; 32 bars, AABA in the inherited chart. Agree the pickup, tempo and ending before counting in.
Start together
Suggested rehearsal entry: give two clear bars of count-in and start the agreed pickup or first melody note. This is not claimed as a historical Django introduction.
Finish together
Agree a final melody statement and hold its tonic arrival; remove any turnaround intended to restart the chorus. Check the chosen arrangement for tags or a separate coda.
32 bars, AABA in the inherited chart. Keep the head and solo chorus lengths explicit at the count-in.
Making each diminished approach an accented interruption.
Arranging the tune
Solo guitar
Start with melody and bass only. Add the following colour without interrupting the melody: Lower A to A♭ when F becomes Fm.
Trio or larger group
Keep the diminished approaches light and the F–Fm change connected. A steady pulse matters more than a large voicing on every chord. Agree the full roadmap and signal the last head before it starts.
Vocal considerations
Choose a comfortable vocal key and transpose the whole arrangement, including its introduction and ending.
Further study
Compare the opening's moving bass with a simpler tonic–dominant accompaniment while preserving the melody's rhythmic shape.
Chord symbols and source cell divisions are preserved from Djangopedia. Slashes mark rhythm; 0 is inherited diminished notation whose exact voicing should be checked against the melody. This is a chord reference, not a melody transcription.
Compare the linked archive entries before attributing one arrangement to all Django performances. Keep composition history separate from the dates of Django’s recordings.
This player guide combines inherited recording evidence and editorial study notes. Musical study notes are editorial suggestions; compare them with the recording.
Photo identification and provenance; reuse rights remain unverified
Illustration credit & provenance
Original Djangopedia illustration · AI-assisted, 2026
An original editorial interpretation of the tune. This is an illustration, not an archival photograph or a documented reconstruction of a recording session.
Generated with the native image-generation tool on 2026-10-08; original editorial artwork, not a historical photograph.
Prompt: Original editorial feature illustration for Nagasaki. An original playful screenprint of guitar and violin silhouettes facing across a rhythmic gap, with short orange and turquoise response shapes moving between them over a cream ground. Broad flat colours, deliberate slight print-registration texture. Show the old photograph’s broad instrument dialogue only in a completely new object-based arrangement. This is the 1928 swing standard as played by Django, not a depiction of Japan, war or a claimed journey. Lively C-major brightness with one cooler minor-colour passage. Original Djangopedia editorial illustration, clearly non-photographic. Do not copy a photograph, known artwork or specific artist. Landscape 1536 by 1024 feature image, important subjects within the middle 75% for responsive hero cropping. No lettering, numbers, musical notation glyphs, logos, signature, watermark, fake archival markings, caption or border. One finished candidate only.
Research & rights notes
Specialist review of original editorial playing advice
Original key and precise composition date where not independently established
Inherited notation, session details and arrangement variants
Photograph reuse permissions
Photograph provenance and rights are stated separately. Attribution does not establish permission.
Nagasaki! | SWINGING HOT CLUB JAZZ! | Holder, Smith, Groves & Green |Ben Holder, Stuart Carter Smith, Caley Groves, Mike Green · Ben Holder - That Ginger Violin Guy!Hot Club jazz ensembleViolin and vocals with two guitars and double bass.✓ Featured
Nagasaki - Urban GypsyUrban Gypsy with Olga Chernyshova · Urban GypsyVocal and violin Gypsy Jazz ensembleSource credits Matvey Mironov, Dmitry Kushnirov, Michail Levit and Nikolay Kistenev.Select performance
Nagasaki - Urban GypsyUrban Gypsy with Elizaveta Bajrak · Urban GypsyVocal and violin Gypsy Jazz ensembleDistinct lineup and interpretation; source names Dmitry Kovalenko as second guitarist.Select performance
Queen City Hot Club (Burl.,VT) - NagasakiQueen City Hot Club · Vtbride1Burlington, Vermont; Gypsy Jazz sample recordingArtist ensemble identified by source; individual personnel not supplied.Select performance