APRIL IN PARIS

Music: Vernon Duke- Lyrics: Yip Harburg

Año: 1932

Origin of the song

On 7 December 1932, Walk a Little Faster premiered in the St. James Theatre of New York. It was the first time that Vernon Duke wrote a complete score for a musical revue and, at first, ‘April in Paris’ was not part of it. For a scene that took place in the rive gauche, the producers wanted a romantic song. While the compositor was discussing it with some friends and collaborators, someone (possibly Dorothy Parker) expressed her wishes of being in Paris during the month of April. When he heard it, Duke sat at the piano and improvised a melody, which Harburg immediately wrote the lyrics for. The song was included in the revue’s preview, which took place in Boston, and was successfully performed by Evelyn Hoey. But the night of the preview in New York, the press criticised it harshly. A reason to this failure may be the fact that Hoey had laryngitis, which degraded the performance.

The show was withdrawn after a hundred and nineteen performances. However, the song kept drawing attention. The blues singer Marian Chase performed it in many nightclubs encouraging musicians such as Eddy Duchin and Paul Weston and singers such as Hildegarde, Lilly Pons and Dorothy Kirsten to include it in their repertoires.

Duke and Harburg also composed ‘What Is There To Say’ (1933) together.

Versions in the top charts

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	DAY OF ENTRANCE	PERMANENCE WEEKS	HIGH POSITION REACHED
Freddy Martin Orchestra	1933.12.01	1933.12.23	7	5	Elmer Feldkamp (voc)
Henry King Orchestra	1933.12.01	1933.12.30	2	14	Joe Sudy (voc)
Count Basie Orchestra	1956.01.??	1956.01.04	13	8	Instrumental Rhythm & Blues charts
The Modernaires	1956.??.??	1956.03.31	1	97	Paula Kelly, Hal Dickinson, Ralph Brewster (voc)

Jazz. Outstanding performances

Instrumental

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOO PART IN THE RECORDING
Coleman Hawkins Orchestra	1945.02.23	Howard McGhee (tp), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Sir Charles Thompson (p), Allan Reuss (g), Oscar Pettiford (b), Denzil Best (d)
Thelonious Monk Trio	1947.10.24	Thelonious Monk (p), Gene Ramey (b), Art Blakey (d)
Coleman Hawkins All Stars	1947.12.11	Fats Navarro (tp), J.J. Johnson (tb), Budd Johnson (as), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Marion De Veta (b), Hank Jones (p), Chuck Wayne (g), Jack Lesberg (b), Max Roach (d)
Charlie Parker Quartet	1949.11.30	Charlie Parker (as), Stan Freeman (p), Ray Brown (b), Buddy Rich (d), Jimmy Carroll Orchestra
Bud Powell Trio	1950.02.??	Bud Powell (p), Curly Russell (b), Max Roach (d)
Count Basie Orchestra	1955.07.26	Count Basie (p, dir), Wendell Culley, Reunald Jones, Thad Jones, Joe Newman (tp), Henry Coker, Bill Hughes, Benny Powell (tb), Marshal Royal (as, cl), Bill Graham (as), Frank Wess (ts, as, fl, cl), Frank Foster (ts, cl), Charlie Fowlkes (bars), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Sonny Payne (d)
Erroll Garner Trio	1955.09.19	Erroll Garner (p), Eddie Calhoun (b), Denzil Best (d)
Thad Jones Quintet	1956.07.14	Thad Jones (tp), Billy Mitchell (ts), Barry Harris (p), Percy Heath (b), Max Roach (d)
Thelonious Monk	1957.04.12	Thelonious Monk (p)
Joe Pass	1979.02.17	Joe Pass (g)

Vocal

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOO PART IN THE RECORDING
Mel Tormé	1947.??.??	Mel Tormé (voc), Page Cavanaugh (p), Al Viola (g), Lloyd Pratt (b)
Frank Sinatra	1950.10.09	Frank Sinatra (voc), Axel Stordahl Orchestra
Sarah Vaughan	1954.12.16	Sarah Vaughan (voc), Clifford Brown (tp), Paul Quinichette (ts), Herbie Mann (fl), Jimmy Jones (p), Joe Benjamin (b), Roy Haynes (d), Ernie Wilkins (dir)
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong	1956.08.16	Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b), Buddy Rich (d)
Gloria Lynne	1958.11.01	Gloria Lynne (voc), Harry 'Sweets' Edison (tp), Sam Taylor (ts), Kenny Burrell (g), Eddie Costa (vib), Wild Bill Davis (org), Milt Hinton (b), Jo Jones (d)
Joe Williams	1963.07.05	Joe Williams (voc), Clark Terry (tp, fis), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Junior Mance (p), Bob Cranshaw (b), Mickey Roker (d) In Jazz Festival of Newport
Ella Fitzgerald & Oscar Peterson	1975.05.19	Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Oscar Peterson (p), Ray Brown (b)
Kurt Elling	1994.07.??	Kurt Elling (voc), Orbert Davis (tp), Laurence Hobgood (p, sint), Dave Onderdonk (g), Rob Amster (b), Paul Wertico (d)
Keely Smith	2002.07.??	Keely Smith (voc), Dennis Michaels (p, dir), Frank Szabo, Carl Saunders, Wayne Bergeron, Pete Candoli (tp), Andy Martin, Chauncey Welsch, Bryant Byers (tb), Brad Kintcher, Paul Klintworth, Trish Skys, Ian Donald (tpa), Jim Self (tu), Sal Lozano, Lanny Morgan (as), Pete Christlieb, Don Menza (ts), Bob Efford (bars), Frank Collett (p), Barry Zweig (g), Kirk Smith (b), Steve Barnes (d), John Magnussen (per), string section

On cinemas

The song 'April in Paris' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:

ORIGINAL TITLE	TITLE IN SPAIN	YEAR OF PRODUCTION	PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM
April in Paris	Abril en París	1952	A chorus
The Helen Morgan Story	Para ella un solo hombre	1957	Ann Blyth (dubbed by Gogi Grant)
Blazing Saddles	Sillas de montar calientes	1974
Bird	Bird	1988	Charlie Parker, Barry Harris, Chuck Berghofer, John Guerin, strings
Forget Paris	Olvídate de París	1995	Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Basquiat	Basquiat	1996	Charlie Parker