Editor’s note, 5.1.12: Noah Haidu returns to Twins Jazz this weekend for another weekend run. This time, he’s playing in a trio, not a quartet, and he’s joined by two of D.C.’s best accompanists: bassist Eric Wheeler and drummer Nasar Abadey. Below, we’re reposting last year’s interview with Haidu, which was conducted just after the release of his CD, Slipstream.

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by Giovanni Russonello

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt has flourished in a variety of settings – playing with groups from the soul-funk outfit Soulive to the Mingus Big Band – but he’s developed an identity as a leader of the new generation of New York City’s post-bop players. This ilk’s music springs from Miles Davis’ work with Wayne Shorter in the 1960s, and prizes original compositions that both swing and groove. Pianist Noah Haidu, who co-leads a quartet with Pelt at Twins Jazz this weekend, is on his way to becoming another major part of that landscape.

Haidu’s debut album as a leader, the recently released Slipstream, is an acoustic affair that reveals a performer and composer with focus and vision. With a quintet that features Pelt and star saxophonist Jon Irabagon, the album’s tunes explore harmonies that begin on the piano and add vertical depth from the lean, punchy horn duo. As an improviser, Haidu is quick but deliberate, clearly influenced by the thematic experimentation of legendary modal pianists.

Noah Haidu, “Soulstep” (from Slipstream) [audio:https://www.capitalbop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/01-Soulstep.m4a]

I caught up with Haidu over the phone for a conversation about what it’s like to play with Pelt, and what musicians most inspire him.

CapitalBop: In terms of your first record, I get a lot of the modal 1960s influence – maybe the songwriting of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard – plus a real connection to the groovier, more hip-hop-influenced kind of stuff that’s coming out of New York now. How would you respond to that sort of assessment? Where am I wrong, where am I right?

Noah Haidu: I have a big palette that I draw from, and a long list of things that get in the mix and have been influences. So everything you said: Herbie and Wayne, as players and composers those guys loom really large for me. And I’m always, always checking that out.

There’s a couple other things – I think you can probably hear some other stuff, like a little bit of Wynton Kelly. I think “The Trouble Makers” [on Slipstream] has a sort of in-the-pocket swing thing. Another composer and pianist is Kenny Kirkland; he’s kind of like the modal pianist of the ’80s, in a way, and he’s coming from all those same things that we just talked about. And you mentioned hip-hop and groove-oriented stuff – I think you’re right on the money.

CB: Do you think the hard-bop sound and tradition is something that’s integral to what you do?

NH: I think it’s all part of a mix – you know, with a lot of people that really love that style, it can be a bit of a “recreate” or, “those same chord changes with my melody and hits.” So I just think that all of it is part of a continuum. It’s hard to make a huge separation; it’s hard to have Wynton Kelly and Herbie and to separate them, and for me even Kenny Kirkland. Some people cut it off at a certain period – nothing newer than the ’60s, nothing newer than the ’80s, whatever it is. I try not to have a cutoff point.

CB: Who are some people you’re listening to right now, saying, “That’s got staying power?” Is there anybody on the scene right now that you find yourself putting on the iPod all the time?

NH: I confess that I don’t think there’s a record out right now that I listen to all the time. I do pick up the things that [Jeremy] Pelt does more often than anyone else. I [like] his composing – and he puts together cohesive bands. I think he’s an important voice right now.

I think that Brad Mehldau is doing [important things]. It’s tough for me to say that, because there’s so many Brad Mehldau wannabes, or there’s becoming a whole school. But I think he’s doing something that’s interesting; I think he’s had an impact on the language, opened up possibilities. Kind of like other people like that – maybe like Bill Evans. Time will tell if it’s as important or has as big of an impact….

We just played a gig with the quintet [from Slipstream], and I think Jon Irabagon is doing some really interesting. He played some stuff the other night that I’ve just never heard before. I’ve loved him since I met him a couple years ago. I just didn’t even know what he was doing, but it was great. It just had some new ideas, some new sounds and shapes coming out. So he’s something to definitely watch out for.

CB: In terms of Jeremy Pelt, what is it about his language that you enjoy listening to? What’s captivating to you?

NH: Well, one thing that I’ve noticed playing with him on gigs is that when we’re playing a song and he’s taking a solo, he doesn’t play licks. I don’t hear things that are like, “Oh yeah, that’s one of my favorite Freddie Hubbard things or Miles, or whatever.” It literally is a language. He’s improvising in a language and there’s something unpredictable about it. So as far as the playing side, that’s a big deal for me. As far as his composing, I just think that he’s one of the most interesting compositional voices. And I like the way he works in different kinds of groups.

CB: Composing is a huge part of your mode of expression…. You obviously have a voice that’s defined. I’m curious about how you approach composing; if you have a particular regimen. Do you wait for something to inspire you? Do you set yourself deadlines – like, “I want to compose a song today?”

NH: It’s tough to do the “I want to compose a song today” thing, although sometimes when you don’t make time to compose, the ideas pile up, and you just say, “Alright, I’m going to sit down and things will come out.” … Usually there’s something circling around in my head and then I have to stop what I’m doing and either write it down, or lately just make a recording of it and come back to it later. And you know, I’ve got a whole mess of unfinished things kicking around right now – and finished things, frankly – that are getting ready for the next record.

You know, there’s usually some type of melody or some kind of idea or groove that does coalesce. And then I have to say, “Let me get to the piano and work this out.” And then from there it takes a long while to see it through, to figure out what needs to be added and what part of it doesn’t work. And it’s a long kind of chipping away, forging the composition.

CB: In terms of your ambitions, do you have things that you’re eager to get done? Or things that you have in the middle- or long-term future that you say, “This is something that I really look forward to getting a chance to do? Composing for orchestra or touring abroad or whatever it might be.

NH: I think things like going abroad with my group and just doing the next record and continuing the process. This first record, Slipstream, was only released in March, so I’m going to be working this for a while. But I’m continuing to write, continuing to do as much playing as I can, and I’d like to come back to D.C. after this week and have some more hits down there. Just get around the country as much as I can, in addition to getting out of the country. That’s the main thing: just keeping recording and playing as much as I can.

CB: Do you have any idea what instrumentation you’d like to try out on the next record?

NH: I’m really into doing the trio right now. I’m really looking forward to doing that. I feel like the trio is going up to another level right now. We’ve been playing at Cleopatra’s Needle every week, and we play at Smalls with some regularity. And then I can hear some bigger orchestration – something like an octet or septet – but I think the next one will probably be trio, with perhaps some tunes with one or two horns on it.

CB: What are you getting out of the trio? Is it that you guys have a growing level of synergy because you’ve been relating to each other for so long now, or what?

NH: It’s fairly new. I wish we could be able to say we’ve been playing for so long, but the trio that I would look to record with, we’ve been together for even under a year now. But I do think it has a great chemistry…. I think trio challenges you to find your own voice. And I love writing for the sound of the horns playing the tunes, and that’s a great way to present the music to people – they can really grab onto that sound, and it’s very clear what the melody is. But I think the trio – at least for me, and I think for a lot of pianists – it’s my own voice, and it challenges me in a way, [when] you don’t have some horn player to come in. You have to really hold it all down. It puts more on me; I have to play more, have to do more. So that’s exciting for me, and it’s been something that I’m growing from and getting a lot out of.

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Noah Haidu performs at Twins Jazz on Friday and Saturday with Jeremy Pelt, Corcoran Holt and Ryan Hayden. There is a $15 cover, and a $10 food and drink minimum. Purchase tickets here.

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