The title of Full House's first release, "Champagne Taste," has a touch of irony to it. The group, led by trumpeter Jim Rotondi and keyboardist David Hazeltine, does have a sleek, bubbly feel, however, it's one mixed with funky grooves and a potent electric sound. Instead of snobbery, their style of jazz is earthy and gratifying.
Full House plays every Thursday at Smoke, a New York City club. It's a fitting combination, because the band does pack the house, and smokes. Recorded live, these well-selected 11 tracks are clearly geared for fans of this hard-working electric band. Hazeltine's Fender Rhodes piano pumps out retro cool chords, as on the wide-open "Mamacita." Rotondi's synthesizer trumpet splashes a broad palette of textures all around. Greg Skaff on guitar, too, adds vivid, muscular tones, as on the high-energy originals that close out the set, "Howayou" and "Voodoo."
Electrified, even classic tunes "Love for Sale" and "Out of This World," reveal a buoyancy sometimes stifled by acoustic renditions. Like many of new-generation jazz musicians, Full House loves jamming over grooves, dropping in greasy Hammond B3 licks and making the house very full indeed.