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From album
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan · 1955 · Track 2
Details
Duración6:18
ÁlbumSarah Vaughan
Año1955
ISRCUSPR35412075
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The story behind
When you encounter April in Paris in the voice of Sarah Vaughan, you are faced with a piece that already had a solid history before reaching her. The song was born in 1932, intended for the Broadway musical Walk a Little Faster, with music by Vernon Duke and words by E. Y. Harburg. The first versions that gained traction in late 1933 were by Freddy Martin and Henry King. A few years later, in 1952, the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra gave it new life, reaching the Cashbox Top 50. Composer Alec Wilder described it as a "perfect theater song," a statement that speaks to its structural soundness and charm.
But if there is one version that became the most remembered, it is Count Basie's from 1955. That recording, included on a self-titled album, was so significant that it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The arrangement, by Wild Bill Davis, is where fascinating things happen: trumpeter Thad Jones shines with a solo that evokes "Pop Goes the Weasel," trombonist Benny Powell contributes a memorable bridge, and Basie himself asks the orchestra to repeat the "shout chorus" once more, and then "one more time still." The Count Basie Orchestra also had an appearance in the 1974 film Blazing Saddles, where a revamped version of the song is heard. While many artists have performed April in Paris, from Billie Holiday to Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan's rendition adds to that rich tradition, giving her personal touch to a melody that has resonated through time.