None can argue that Herbie Hancock's Blue Note recordings are mostly jazz milestones, the somewhat overlooked Warner Bros. period remains one of his most creatively adventurous, and enduring. The three albums presented here all offer different sides of Hancock after he left Miles Davis. All are presented here in their entirety, with copious notes by Bob Blumenthal, who interviewed Hancock for the package. The set begins with the wildly joyous, deep, funky groove of Fat Albert's Groove, the music Hancock recorded for Bill Cosby's Saturday morning cartoon show. These seven tracks, with their three-horn front line (originated for Hancock on his final Blue Note album, Speak Like a Child) of Joe Henderson on flute and tenor, Johnny Coles' trumpet, and Garnett Brown's trombone, are singing, lyrical funk grooves that predated Headhunters by a few years and swung way harder by sticking back and lying in the groove as much as possible. Hancock's electric piano teamed with Tootie Heath and Buster Williams to form an unbeatable, gutsy, and stomping rhythm section. The band was fleshed out on a couple of tracks by additional horns, additional drums and percussion, and electric guitars. After such a melodic entry, Warners' executives must have been shocked when Hancock brought them the abstract funkified impressionism of his emerging Mwandishi band on its selftitled offering. Comprised of three long tracks, the album showcased Hancock's use of free jazz and long intervallic inventions on modal frames. Only Buster Williams remained from the previous set. The rest of the sextet includes Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester, and Bennie Maupin. also This same band with the addition of a few sidemen recorded the Crossings with the addition of synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson. This final record sank from the market like a stone; it found some success a year later, after Hancock had moved to Columbia, to issue Sextant and then Headhunters. Crossings melds street music, modal jazz and the expansive sonic approach of Sun Ra fom this same period; it's approach keeps jazz close to the street while fully exploring the varying tonal and rhythmic changes that were going on post-Coltrane. Again, only three tracks appear, though the first is a long, brazen expressionistic suite ("Sleeping Giant"). The musical evolution present in this double set reveals the composer, arranger, and pianist as a large scale visionary.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Centered around some soundtrack music that Herbie Hancock wrote for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert cartoon show, Fat Albert Rotunda was Hancock's first full-fledged venture into jazz-funk -- and his last until Head Hunters -- making it a prophetic release. At the same time, it was far different in sound from his later funk ventures, concentrating on a romping, late-'60s-vintage R&B-oriented sound. with frequent horn riffs and great rhythmic comping and complex solos from Hancock's Fender Rhodes electric piano. The syllables of the titles alone -- "Wiggle Waggle," "Fat Mama," "Oh! Oh! Here He Comes" -- have a rhythm and feeling that tell you exactly how this music saunters and swaggers along -- just like the jolly cartoon character. But there is more to this record than fatback funk. There is the haunting, harmonically sophisticated "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" (which ought to become a jazz standard), and the similarly relaxed "Jessica." The sextet on hand is a star-studded bunch, with Joe Henderson in funky and free moods on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Buster Williams on bass, and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. Only Williams would remain for Hancock's 1977 electric V.S.O.P.: The Quintet album to come. In addition, trumpeter Joe Newman, saxophonist Joe Farrell, guitarist Eric Gale, and drummer Bernard Purdie make guest appearances on two tracks.© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo

In the 27 years since Dexy's Midnight Runners' last studio album, frontman Kevin Rowland has become more renowned for his financial problems, drug addiction, and of course, his bizarre drag makeover on 1999's career-suicide My Beauty than the wondrous blend of blue-eyed soul, post-punk, and folk-pop that he conquered the charts with in the early '80s. One Day I'm Going to Soar, the band's first release since 1985's poorly received Don't Stand Me Down, doesn't reach anywhere near the heights of "Come On Eileen" or "Geno," but it's far from the embarrassment of his solo effort. Opening track "Now" sets the eccentric tone immediately, as its stately piano riffs and mournful violins make way for a contrasting folksy stomp featuring a typically rousing chant of "Attack! Attack!" while elsewhere, there are solid forays into '70s string-soaked disco ("I'm Always Going to Love You"), lounge bar jazz-soul ("Me"), and best of all, seductive Al Green-esque funk ("She Got a Wiggle"). Ever the showman, Rowland's theatrical tendencies are still as ham-fisted as they were in his heyday, as evident on the melodramatic cabaret number "Look," as on "Incapable of Love," a battle of the sexes duet featuring the equally overblown tones of Madeleine Hyland. There's little need for such a "subtlety of a sledgehammer" approach as Rowland's highly confessional lyrics are dramatic enough on their own. Appearing to revel in picking his own personality apart, there are spoken word notes to self, declarations of independence, and tales of self-loathing, all of which make you feel like you've wandered into a brutally honest but utterly compelling therapy session. One Day I'm Going to Soar hardly justifies the almost-three-decade wait, but it's as marvelously idiosyncratic as any longtime fan could hope to expect.© Jon O'Brien /TiVo

After releasing a handful of wonderfully watrped pop records records over almost two decades, Lawrence might have changed the band's name from Go-Kart Mozart to Mozart Estate, but not much else has changed on the improbably titled Pop-up! Ker-ching! And the Possibilities of Modern Shopping. The former Felt and Denim mastermind is still making music that's heavily indebted to the novelty sounds of the '70s, the nihilism of punk, and the hookiness of bubblegum all filtered through Lawrence's unique perspective on life, love and money. Familiar cohorts like keyboardist Terry Miles and bassist Rusty Stone are back to help out, so are newcomers like vocalist Piney Gir, who helps out on backing vocals. Songs touch on issues like lack of funds (the barstool romp "Relative Poverty,") sheer disgust with humanity ("I Wanna Murder You,") ridiculous holidays ("Record Store Day") and the glory of fully stocked shop shelves ("Poundland") all featuring typically hilarious turns of phrase, insanely catchy hooks and Lawrence's singular vocals. He veers from sneering snark to comical posh accents to disaffected drawl and -- on a faithfull cover of the Adam Faith ballad "Honey" -- heart tugging sincerity. Junk shop synths, popping fretless bass, tinny drum machine and handclaps joust with chunky punky rock guitars, choirs of backing vocals, and barrelhouse piano in ways that previous albums by both Denim and Go-Kart Mozart do, here it sounds a little weirder and little less slick. Maybe not by coincidence, Lawrence handles the production duties himself. Certainly songs like the sparse "Flanca for Mr Flowers" and the happily clunky "And Now the Darkest Times Are Here" have an intimate, home cooked feel. The whole album exudes that kind of feeling at heart; that despite all the people involved it's basically the obsessions, oddness and brilliance of one guy somehow captured and released to the public at large. It's unclear how many of said public will be able to connect with music this endearingly crooked and far from any other kind of music being made concurrently, or ever. Even dedicated fans of Go-Kart Mozart might find songs like "I'm Gonna Wiggle" or "Vanilla Gorilla" -- two tracks silly enough to make even the Wombles blanch -- to be a little too far out. That being said, anyone who has a long-term affinity for Lawrence and is happily willing to follow him on his bonkers journey through life and music will find Pop-up! Ker-ching! another fascinating, curiously life affirming step along the way.© Tim Sendra /TiVo

Light Up the Night marked the end of an era for the Brothers Johnson -- it was the last of four albums that Quincy Jones produced for the Los Angeles siblings, and it was the last time a Brothers Johnson album was truly excellent instead of merely decent. When Jones was producing the Brothers Johnson's albums from 1976-1980, he gave them something their subsequent albums lacked -- consistency. Even though George and Lewis Johnson recorded some decent material after Light Up the Night, none of their post-Jones albums had the type of consistency that Jones gives this 1980 release. The album gets off to an impressive start with the major hit "Stomp!" (a definitive example of the smooth, sleek brand of funk that was termed sophisticated funk in the late '70s and early '80s), and the tracks that follow are equally memorable. From the sleek sophisti-funk of "You Make Me Wanna Wiggle," "This Had to Be" (which was co-written by Michael Jackson and employs him as a background vocalist), and the title song to the tender R&B/pop ballads "Treasure" and "All About the Heaven," Light Up the Night is without a dull moment. © Alex Henderson /TiVo

Centered around some soundtrack music that Herbie Hancock wrote for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert cartoon show, Fat Albert Rotunda was Hancock's first full-fledged venture into jazz-funk -- and his last until Head Hunters -- making it a prophetic release. At the same time, it was far different in sound from his later funk ventures, concentrating on a romping, late-'60s-vintage R&B-oriented sound. with frequent horn riffs and great rhythmic comping and complex solos from Hancock's Fender Rhodes electric piano. The syllables of the titles alone -- "Wiggle Waggle," "Fat Mama," "Oh! Oh! Here He Comes" -- have a rhythm and feeling that tell you exactly how this music saunters and swaggers along -- just like the jolly cartoon character. But there is more to this record than fatback funk. There is the haunting, harmonically sophisticated "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" (which ought to become a jazz standard), and the similarly relaxed "Jessica." The sextet on hand is a star-studded bunch, with Joe Henderson in funky and free moods on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Buster Williams on bass, and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. Only Williams would remain for Hancock's 1977 electric V.S.O.P.: The Quintet album to come. In addition, trumpeter Joe Newman, saxophonist Joe Farrell, guitarist Eric Gale, and drummer Bernard Purdie make guest appearances on two tracks.© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo