April in Paris is a jazz standard written in 1932 by Vernon Duke with lyrics by Yip Harburg for the Broadway revue Walk a Little Faster. The original 1933 hit was performed by Freddy Martin. A 1952 remake by the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra helped revive the tune and it was linked to the Doris Day film of the same name. The most famous recording is Count Basie’s 1955 interpretation on the album April in Paris, arranged by Wild Bill Davis, with notable solos by Thad Jones and Benny Powell, ending with Basie calling for “one more time.” The Basie version, released on Verve in 1957, helped cement the song as a jazz standard and it has been covered by many artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Thelonious Monk.
