Fred Astaire might not be the first name that comes to mind when thinking of a jazz singer, but this installment of Verve's Finest Hour series samples 16 songs from the 1952 sessions in which Astaire joined Oscar Peterson and some of Verve's best sidemen to lay down jazzy versions of songs he had made famous in his Broadway and film career, originally released as The Astaire Story. While Astaire was not blessed with great vocal chops, the best American songwriters including George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter loved him for his unerring sense of rhythm and sympathetic treatment of lyrics, qualities that are well displayed here. Familiar songs include "Steppin' Out with My Baby," "Cheek to Cheek," "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "Night and Day," and "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails." And for something different, there's also a song recorded with the Pete King Orchestra, "The Afterbeat," written by Astaire himself with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. --David Horiuchi