Home » Jazz Articles » Interview » Noah Haidu: Carving Out His Place
Noah Haidu: Carving Out His Place
Buddy Guy
guitar, electricb.1936
Albert King
guitar, electric1923 - 1992
All these things go into the musical blender of one of the New York scene's young piano talents; out of it comes Haidu's open approach to the instrument—part in the jazz tradition and part willing to extend into other territories.
Haidu grew up in the 1980s, listening to a variety of music. He recalls when rock band The Police broke up and its renowned bassist,
Sting
bass, electricb.1951
Branford Marsalis
saxophoneb.1960
Kenny Kirkland
piano1955 - 1998
Omar Hakim
drumsb.1959
Darryl Jones
bassb.1961
"There were some jazz solos on those records. I heard the band play live and that caught my attention pretty well," says Haidu. "I was hearing jazz, Branford Marsalis albums from the '80s. Blues. I used to play guitar as well. I would go hear
Buddy Guy
guitar, electricb.1936
B.B. King
guitar, electric1925 - 2015
Albert Collins
guitar, electric1932 - 1993
Gene Harris
piano1933 - 2000
Oscar Peterson
piano1925 - 2007
Wynton Kelly
piano1931 - 1971
"I always think that's an interesting way to get into jazz. Blues. You follow bluesy jazz guys. When you get down to it,
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Sonny Stitt
saxophone1924 - 1982
There's also evidence of that continuity in Slipstream (Posi-Tone, 20101), Haidu's first album as leader. It features an array of fine musicians like trumpeter
Jeremy Pelt
trumpetb.1976
Jon Irabagon
saxophone
Willie Jones III
drumsb.1968
"I wanted something that had melodies people could easily relate to," said Haidu, who is already writing for his second record. "I've heard about people that have tunes a half-hour long with lots of over-the-top arrangements. I just tried to do something that has a sophistication and hipness to it, but with melodies and groove that people could relate to. That's my approach to music. It can be as complex as you want, as long as people can get into it and it doesn't push people away. You shouldn't have to have a PhD to understand it and enjoy it.
"There are influences on there, everything from '70s R&B," says the pianist, "a little bit of Earth, Wind & Fire on one of the tunes, to stuff that's influenced by Kenny Kirkland, the pianist, that kind of goes a little beyond straight-ahead. There's even a touch of some of the more jazzy hip-hop artists, like 
MeShell NdegeOcello
bass, electricb.1968
The band he assembled, which operationally gets to play the music on gigs, consists largely of cats he met at New York City's jam sessions over the years. He and Pelt were new on the scene when they started playing sessions at [New York club] Cleopatra's Needle. He says of Pelt, "He's one of the few people who understand how to play a melody. He can really get into the song both as an improviser—the feeling of the song—and also in the melody." Haidu met Irabagon most recently at a gig he was called for. "Right from the rehearsal—the same kind of thing with Jeremy—[Irabagon] understood the tunes and the harmonies. It didn't matter if it was a modern tune or if it had kind of a swinging, soulful attitude. He seemed to be able to bring all that together. He's a cutting-edge improviser, I love hearing him play on my more modern tunes."
Bassist Chris Haney is an old friend from Brooklyn, and Haidu employs two drummers—Jones and
John Davis
drums
Native Soul, from left: Marcus McLaurine, Peter Brainin
Noah Haidu, Steve Johns
Haidu says he's already had his eye on the next recording project. "I don't know exactly what it's going to be. I am envisioning what that session is going to be. I'm looking at things I've already written and seeing what would fit with the instrumentation I have in mind, with the players I have in mind, and what things do I need to write to fill in what I don't have. It's a process."
Meanwhile, he's been involved as a sideman over the years with the likes of bassist
Curtis Lundy
bassb.1955
Duane Eubanks
trumpetb.1969
Winard Harper
drumsb.1962
Steve Johns
drumsb.1960
Peter Brainin
saxophone
Marcus McLaurine
bass"It's a pretty diverse music that we do," Haidu says of Native Soul. "Everyone in the band writes tunes. Some of the tunes have a soulful, bluesy or gospel element. I play a little bit of Hammond organ and even some Fender Rhodes. Some of the tunes on that record also have some electric bass. They [the group] do a funky version of one of
Jimi Hendrix
guitar, electric1942 - 1970
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
He explains, "I do play around town with different groups playing electric keyboards. I'm still active in that genre," but notes that electric piano is not really his instrument of choice right now. "It's part of making a living," he says lightheartedly. "If I didn't have to make a living, I would have to decide whether I just wanted to focus on acoustic piano; I think there is a place for keyboards in jazz, [but] I'm not sure if I'm going to be one of the people that explores that—or not right now. But it's a possibility."
In that regard, Kirkland's Kenny Kirkland (GRP 1991) had synthesizers on it, and Pelt's electric band WiRED—last heard on Shock Value: Live at Smoke (MaxJazz 2007)—is something he enjoyed, and could influence his future explorations.
Haidu—whose piano influences run from one of his teachers, 
Kenny Barron
pianob.1943
McCoy Tyner
piano1938 - 2020
But there was plenty of influence from his father as well. "He took me to a lot of jazz and blues concerts, things that I was interested in when I was younger. Rock. Everything." As a teenager, he began to see that music would be his career path. "It's not an easy thing as a teenager to convince your family that's what you're going to do," says Haidu. "I felt pretty clear about it from a young age. I played piano and guitar. I used to work on both of them. It took a while to sort out which of them was going to be my main instrument."
Out of high school, he went into the jazz program at Rutgers University, where piano, and also jazz, jumped into focus. He studied with Barron there.
"He didn't show me a million technical things on the piano," Haidu says of his teacher, "Just playing with him, I would really pick up on his musicality and his soulfulness and his phrasing. He's the type of guy who can take a standard like 'Darn That Dream' and at any given time—you could call him up in the middle of the night and say, 'Hey Kenny, it's two in the morning, can you play 'Darn That Dream,' and he would probably play a masterpiece. It doesn't matter where or when, what town. Every time he played it, it was incredible." He played jam sessions in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and even a little in New York City, while in school. "That kind of musicality seemed like something I couldn't learn in school, so in a way, I think Kenny [Barron] was the catalyst for me quitting Rutgers," he notes. "I took a little time off, investigating the scene in Philadelphia. I started getting a few gigs in Philly, but I noticed it was very hard to break into that scene. I ended up moving to New York. I wasn't a very strong player at that time, but I knew I wanted to move to New York and be around the heart of the jazz community and start to make a living. That's when I started playing the electric keyboards. That became mighty quickly what I was doing to survive."
Playing jam sessions and other small gigs got his name around, and his buildup on the scene was gradual. "I still feel it's building," he says. "Over the years, I'm getting more and more busy and more in demand with certain people. The schedule filled up to the point where you're running from gig to gig. Then people want to study with you [he teaches at the Brooklyn Conservatory]. I'm lucky with students and stuff."
Meanwhile, Haidu has met and played with other rising musicians like trumpeters
Ambrose Akinmusire
trumpetb.1982
Gregory Rivkin
trumpetb.1976
He's not just checking out the younger cats, but learning from jazz icons as well. "Recently I got to go hear
Keith Jarrett
pianob.1945
"One of the things I try to do with my own group, when I play music, is have a certain variety," Haidu continues. "I don't want to play a whole set of ballads, or a whole set of up-tempo. I want to do both. I want to do swinging stuff, modern stuff. As long as there's feeling in it, I think it's all there. Keith Jarrett was incredible because he did all of that, all by himself, at the piano. There were moments of gospel, moments of modern classical. There were standards. There were things that sounded like boogie woogie. He never played like anybody except himself. His own voice was there the entire time. It was a beautiful concert. That definitely had an impact."
Haidu takes on the challenges of being a Big Apple-based jazz musician in trying times, and does so with a positive attitude. And it's working for him; the cat can play his butt off. "Even though it's difficult, there're a lot of people playing. We can all check each other out and pick up things from each other. I'm happy about that. I think it's a good time for jazz."
"Even though there's a million people and not enough gigs, I like all the different people who are playing and all the different influences right now.
Brad Mehldau
pianob.1970
Wynton Marsalis
trumpetb.1961
Selected Discography
Noah Haidu, Slipstream (Posi-Tone, 20011)
Native Soul, Soul Step (Talking Drum Records, 2011)
Mauricio de Sousa, Here, There (Pulsa Music, 2010)
Native Soul, Rough Jazz (Apria, 2006)
Photo Credits
Page 1: Chris Drucker
Page 2:
Steve Johns
drumsb.1960
Page 3: Courtesy of
Noah Haidu
pianoTags
Noah Haidu
Interview
R.J. DeLuke
United States
Buddy Guy
albert king
Sting
Branford Marsalis
Kenny Kirkland
Omar Hakim
Darryl Jones
B.B. King
Albert Collins
Gene Harris
oscar peterson
Wynton Kelly
Charlie Parker
Sonny Stitt
Jeremy Pelt
Jon Irabagon
Willie Jones III
Me'Shell NdegeOcello
John Davis
Curtis Lundy
Duane Eubanks
Winard Harper
Steve Johns
Peter Brainin
Marcus McLaurine
Jimi Hendrix
Herbie Hancock
Kenny Barron
McCoy Tyner
ambrose akinmusire
Gregory Rivkin
Keith Jarrett
brad mehldau
wynton marsalis
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