Personnel:
Oscar Peterson, Fred Astaire, Flip Phillips, Charlie Shavers, Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, Alvin Stoller.
Reference: JFCD22877_2
For the first time, the complete 4 lp albums of
The Astaire Story in 1 double-cd set.
Because he was world renowned as a dancer and quite popular as a movie actor, Fred Astaire has tended to be underrated (if not completely overlooked) as a jazz singer. Although not really an improviser, Astaire's phrasing always swing and his occasional vocals on record were usually a joy. This two-CD set is something special for it features Astaire with six members of Jazz At The Philharmonic: tenor-saxophonist Flip Phillips, trumpeter Charlie Shavers, pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Alvin Stoller. In this Los Angeles sessions the musicians have plenty of opportunities to stretch out, and Astaire sings 34 swing standards (many of which he had originally introduced in movies), dances on 5 ad-lib numbers and sits out on one instrumental number.
Tracklisting:
CD 1
1. Isn't This A Lovely Day
2. Puttin' On The Ritz
3. I Used To Be Color Blind
4. The Continental
5. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
6. Change Partners
7. 'S Wonderful
8. Lovely To Look At
9. They All Laughed
10. Cheek To Cheek
11. Steppin' Out With My Baby
12. The Way You Look Tonight
13. I've Got My Eyes On you
14. Dancing In The Dark
15. The Carioca
16. Nice Work If You Can Get It
17. New Sun In The Sky
18. I Won't Dance
19. Fast Dances
20. Top Hat, White Tie And Tails
21. No Strings
22. I Concentrate on You
23. I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket
CD 2
1. A Fine Romance
2. Night And Day
3. Fascinating Rhythm
4. I Love Louisa
5. Slow Dances
6. Medium Dance
7. They Can't Take That Away From Me
8. You're Easy To Dance With
9. A Needle In A Haystack
10. So Near And Yet So Far
11. A Foggy Day
12. Oh, Lady Be Good
13. I'm Building Up To An Awful Letdown
14. Not My Girl
15. Jam Session for A Dancer
16. The Astaire Blues
17. The Second Astaire Blues
Total Time: 79:23 + 76:30 min.
Recorded December, 1952 in Los Angeles under the supervision of Norman Granz.
Review:
The biggest surprise to this classic box (which was originally four-Lps) is that Fred Astaire did not do similar projects more often throughout his career. Highly recommended.
Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
