Bing Crosby With Ella Fitzgerald & Peggy Lee Featuring Fred Astaire is a two-disc import release from Avid. The set is an excellent pairing of four legendary performers. A total of 61 songs make up the duet collection, including a ton of famous material like the seasonal hits “Silver Bells” and “White Christmas,” as well as standards like “For Sentimental Reasons” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.” The first disc is completely Bing and Ella, while the second disc (unmarked on early versions) is largely Bing and Peggy Lee, with Fred Astaire guesting on 11 of the songs. Disc one has a heavy does of Christmas songs, which is great if that is what you expect. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a hilarious gem. Any collection that offers this many quality tracks (some are live radio performances) is appreciated. Some may debate that one disc is better than the other (or that Ella duets better with Bing than Peggy) or that there are too many holiday tunes here. But a record that can inspire opinionated response is valuable. Some may even argue that adding Astaire (without any dance steps) to an album is like adding, well, not a lot. Those tracks, however, are actually fun comedic songs, including a cover of “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” from Top Hat and a breathtaking “Kamehameha Day.” Bing Crosby With Ella Fitzgerald & Peggy Lee is both a definitive collection of these joint performances and a spring board to other releases. Who could ask for anything more? – JT Griffith