Booker T. Jones and Jolie Holland will celebrate the 40th anniversary of “What A Wonderful World” by releasing a new version on Nov. 6.
A digital single released by Anti-, the leader of the MG's said “I hoped it would be something of a healing or a balm for the world right now because conditions are so bleak in so many places and areas. I’m hoping it’ll be a timely, refreshing uplift for music listeners. I’m hoping it’s going to be something to pick people up and to reaffirm hope and beauty – to remind them that there is beauty in the world. We hear so much about what’s wrong and no one is really saying that the world is a beautiful place. It still is a beautiful wonderful place.”
The Louis Armstrong version of the Bob Thiele/George David Weiss tune was released in the fall of 1967.

Six historical recordings from the Monterey Jazz Festival in Northern California are being issued as part of the fest's 50th anniversary celebration. The CDs are of a Louis Armstrong 1958 performance on the fest's inaugural night; Miles Davis Quintet in 1963; the 1964 edition of Thelonious Monk's quartet augmented by bassist Steve Swallow; Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1965; Sarah Vaughan in 1971; and a "Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival" sampler. Discs will be released Aug. 21 by Concord Records and Monterey Jazz Festival Records.
The six titles are the first fruit from a 10-year project in which original analog tapes have been transferred to digital files. More releases are planned for 2008.