'The Everything Man: The Best of the Jimmy Castor Bunch'

Much of the music on “The Everything Man: The Best of the Jimmy Castor Bunch” is cartoon-like funk; you can almost see Fat Albert and the gang dancing to tunes such as “Big Bertha Butt Boogie,” “Troglodyte (Cave Man)” and “Hey, Leroy, Your Mama’s Calling You.” Fat Albert would be shakin’ the joint too, because, though the patter is playful, the funk is low-down and nasty.

You’ll also find Latin grooves and funky jazz; Castor was a honking fool on his saxophone. And, yes, there are a few tunes that teeter in the no-man’s land between funk and disco, the grooves you find yourself swaying to even though you wouldn’t admit it to your friends.

“The Everything Man: The Best of the Jimmy Castor Bunch” is a party record, plain and simple. Looks like I’m headed for a silly New Year’s Eve because the pooch and I will be boppin’ around the house with this album as I sip on some 15-year-old Scotch.