What a Wonderful World

Satchmo's final album, from 1968, finds him performing pop and showtunes with his easygoing, lifelong charm. Following the eternally life-affirming title track, Armstrong summons up echoes of the musical fire that fueled his earliest small-group recordings in "Cabaret" and "Hellzapoppin’"; shows off the subtleties of his velvet rumble of a voice in "The Home Fire"; and responds to the turbulent ’60s with the earnest "Hello Brother."