In 1952, jazz producer Norman Granz came up with the idea of recording Fred Astaire with a top-flight jazz group. To celebrate the 65th anniversary of “The Astaire Story,” Verve Records/Ume has released a 2-CD set. In addition to singing songs from his films, he reminisces and even dances on three tracks, his feet acting as a percussive instrument.
The jazz combo is made up of piano great Oscar Peterson (who switched to celeste on “No Strings”), tenor-saxophonist Flip Phillips (more subdued than at the Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts), trumpeter Charlie Shavers, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Alvin Stoller. They play beautiful obbligatos and, when the group swings, Astaire has no trouble keeping up.
