Three Movie Clips
Fred Astaire On Piano
The dancer shows that he was also a talented jazz pianist
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It was not enough that Fred Astaire was the definitive dancer in the movies and a delightful actor, or that he was a fine drummer (he used to practice on drums at home), and a good songwriter (including “I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket”), but he was also an unheralded pianist.
Astaire occasionally played piano for laughs in films but there are some impressive film clips of him playing.
Steve Muller put together this three-piece medley of Fred Astaire’s piano performances: “I Won’t Dance with a cameo appearance by Ginger Rogers, Astaire singing and playing piano on “I’ve Got My Eyes On You,” and a frequently hilarious closer.
-Scott Yanow
Ella Fitzgerald