April in Paris (album) April in Paris (album) April in Paris is an album by pianist/bandleader Count Basie and His Orchestra, his first released on the Verve label, recorded in 1955 and 1956. AllMusic awarded the album 5 stars calling it "one of those rare albums that makes its mark as an almost instant classic in the jazz pantheon" and noting ""April in Paris" proved Count Basie's ability to grow through modern jazz changes while keeping the traditional jazz orchestra vital and alive". The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide said it was "a commercial high point for this outfit". The Penguin Guide to Jazz
Clock Opera as a solo project and developed into a four-piece band. Connelly lived in a warehouse with bassist and guitarist Andy West, who was in the band Doloroso. Drummer Che Albrighton, whose previous bands include Bikini Atoll, played with West, and Connelly did some recording for them. Keyboardist Dan Armstrong, formerly of The Rushes, was another friend of Connelly's who was invited to join Clock Opera after attending one of their early gigs. Connelly says he named the band after a symphony written for pocket watches, while Armstrong calls the name Clock Opera apt "because of the infinite ticking rhythms and