“The Astaire Story” – Fred Astaire

Album: The Astaire Story

Artist: Fred Astaire

Year: 1953

Genre: Swing

Grade: B+

The centerpiece of so many classic Old Hollywood musicals, from Swing Time! to Top Hat to The Band Wagon, dancer/singer/actor Fred Astaire has always been a jazzman at heart. It’s all there in his gliding movements, his elegant rhythms and his athletic virtuosity. Not to mention his gentle, crooning vocals; perfect for swinging pop standards (his rendition of “Night and Day” places at #23 in the Colin’s Review Best Songs of the 1930s). Fittingly, The Astaire Story opens with a 12-minute instrumental led by famed jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. It sets the tone for the rest of this career retrospective; the perfect complement to his relaxed, breezy style.

Although this may be an imposing collection (4xLP running for two hours), it’s an essential listen for Astaire fans, pop fans and jazz fans alike. You’ll find tasteful, updated arrangements of pretty much every meaningful song the dance icon has performed on stage and screen. Even at the age of 53, Astaire is a lively MC— never getting in the way of the standards, deferring to the timeless melodies of Berlin, Gershwin and Porter like the consummate professional he’s always been.

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