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On October 16, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical begins previews at Broadway’s Studio 54, starring Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin‘s Genie) as the titular legend.  Told from the perspective of his four wives, the musical chronicles the life of one of the most significant and enduring figures in the entirety of American popular music.  Today – roughly one month before the show hits New York – Verve and UMe have celebrated Armstrong’s legacy with the release of Wonderful World: The Best of Louis Armstrong on CD, LP, and digital platforms. This 13-song sampler draws on his 1951-1967 recordings for the Decca, Verve, Kapp, and ABC-Paramount labels and includes many of his most beloved songs as both a vocalist and trumpeter.

The collection, sequenced out of chronological order, opens with Armstrong’s definitive rendition of Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Academy Award-nominated “A Kiss to Build a Dream On.”  It includes a couple of standards from his 1957 career-encompassing quadruple-album Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography (“On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)”) as well as three duets with Ella Fitzgerald (“Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”) and his English-language version of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose,” popularized anew in the 2008 Disney/Pixar film WALL-E.

Of course, no Armstrong best-of would be complete without his 1964 classic “Hello, Dolly!”  Satchmo’s delightful reading of the Jerry Herman showtune from the musical of the same name reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, displacing The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania to end their streak of three chart-toppers in a row over fourteen consecutive weeks.  The most successful single of the artist’s career, “Hello, Dolly!” made Louis the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100 to that point.  It won Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards for Herman and Best Vocal Performance – Male for Armstrong.  Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001, “Hello, Dolly!” also spawned an Kapp album of the same name from which “It’s Been a Long, Long Time,” “Moon River” and “Blueberry Hill” have all been reprised on this collection.

The set ends, appropriately enough, with the sweet and wistful “What a Wonderful World.”  The anthem by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss wasn’t a favorite of then-ABC Records president Larry Newton, so it came and went quickly in the U.S. on a single backed with “Cabaret,” also featured on this collection.  (ABC hoped to repeat the success of “Dolly!” with Armstrong’s jubilant rendition of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s ironically jaunty title song of their 1966 musical.  The same year, Louis applied the formula to Jerry Herman’s “Mame” from the composer-lyricist’s follow-up to Hello, Dolly! on Broadway.)  In Britain, however, “What a Wonderful World” rose to No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart and reached the top ten throughout Europe.  After it was heard in the 1987 dark comedy Good Morning, Vietnam, “What a Wonderful World” was reissued and reached the top 40 of the Hot 100.  It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and today is one of Armstrong’s signature songs.

While there’s little to entice collectors, Wonderful World: The Best of Louis Armstrong is a potent and compact introduction to the oeuvre of this timeless artist.  You’ll find order links and the track listing below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Wonderful World: The Best of Louis Armstrong (Verve, 2024)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. A Kiss to Build a Dream On
2. Hello, Dolly!
3. Dream a Little Dream of Me (feat. Ella Fitzgerald)
4. La Vie en Rose
5. On the Sunny Side of the Street
6. When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)
7. Cheek to Cheek (feat. Ella Fitzgerald)
8. Cabaret
9. It’s Been a Long, Long Time
10. They Can’t Take That Away from Me (feat. Ella Fitzgerald)
11. Moon River
12. Blueberry Hill
13. What a Wonderful World

Track 1 from Decca single 9-27720, 1951 and Satchmo Serenades – Decca DL-5401, 1952
Tracks 2, 9, 11 & 12 from Hello, Dolly! – Kapp KS-3364, 1964
Track 3 from Decca single 9-27209, 1950
Track 4 from Decca single 9-27713, 1950 and Satchmo Serenades – Decca DL-5401, 1952
Tracks 5-6 from Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography – Decca DX-155, 1957
Tracks 6 & 10 from Ella and Louis – Verve MG V-4003, 1956
Tracks 8 & 13 from ABC-Paramount single 45-10982, 1967