What's New on WDCB... with Paul Abella

This week, I'm focusing on three CDs that are available in our list of Thank You Gifts during WDCB's Spring Pledge Drive. All are being offered with a donation of $100 or more. Thank you for supporting WDCB!

Erroll Garner: Closeup in Swing (Mack Avenue/Octave)

In the late 1950s, jazz piano legend Erroll Garner fought a three-year court battle to win his independence from Columbia Records. After winning the case, he launched his own label, Octave Records. Garner's 1961 album Closeup in Swing was one of the label’s first recordings and it's a gem! With backing from bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin, Garner swings mightily at the piano, romping through standards like "All of Me," "The Best Things in Life are Free" and "St. Louis Blues" plus introducing two original tunes, "Shadows" and "El Papa Grande." The session ranks among the finest of Garner’s career. It sounds better than ever in this recently remastered CD reissue, which also includes a previously unheard track from the Octave vaults. In addition to this CD being available with a donation of $100, it is also half of our "Spring Swing Pack" which pairs this CD and our new "WDCB's Got That Swing" tee shirt at the $120 donation amount - for a limited time, until Fri, March 5.

Louis Armstrong: Gold (Hip-O)

Louis Armstrong had a long and illustrious career as a jazz trumpeter and singer, pop star, American ambassador, and more. The 2-CD collection Gold does a great job of piecing together all of those parts of Pops’ career. From "West End Blues" to "What A Wonderful World" plus a great overview of all of his duets with Ella, Billie, Louis Jordan, Bing Crosby and more... this is the best "greatest hits" collection of Louis Armstrong's music that I’ve seen.

Conrad Herwig: The Latin Side of Horace Silver (Savant)

One of our favorite CDs of late 2020 is Conrad Herwig's The Latin Side of Horace Silver. The Latin Side band has put out a bunch of great discs, all focusing on different artists, and this latest release is just as fantastic. Of course Horace Silver’s music already hints at Latin rhythms, so it was a natural choice for Herwig to include Silver in his Latin Side series . The band features some familiar faces like pianist Bill O’Connell, drummer Robby Ameen, conguero Richie Flores and others.