Noah Haidu: Slipstream

What do slipstreams and music have in common? The simple answer is: flow. While some genres have turned their back on the idea of letting each piece of music flow in its own unique way, subscribing instead to digital quantizing and beat perfection, jazz isn't one of them. On his appropriately titled debut, Slipstreams, pianist Noah Haidu presents eight unique tracks that are as unpredictable as the flow of air in the wake of an airplane propeller.

Haidu tapped some heavyweights for this recording, including trumpet giant Jeremy Pelt and Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition-winner Jon Irabagon, and both men prove to be perfect for his music. They deliver warp speed solos over up-tempo swing ("Slipstream") and blend beautifully when winding their way through the head on Haidu's "Soulstep." Pelt's broad-toned trumpet confidently swaggers over the rhythm section on "The Trouble Makers," and both men duke it out in a no-holds-barred brawl on "Break Tune." Irabagon's playing with the left-leaning, humor-heavy ensemble Mostly Other People Do The Killing has marked him as an avant-garde adventurer in the minds of some jazz fans, but this music is an excellent example of his stellar playing in a more settled vein.

While the horn players deserve a good amount of credit for their contributions to these pieces, it's still Haidu's show, and has his hands—figuratively and literally—in everything that happens on this album. Whether the band is moving through an organically flowing waltz ("Float"), a slightly slick vehicle ("Take Your Time") or a reshaped standard, molded to fit with Haidu's vision (Cole Porter's "Just One Of Those Things"), he always finds the perfect part for each song. "Where We Are Right Now" is an excellent example of Haidu's holistic view of the piano's role in music. He sets up the rhythmic direction of the music with his chordal statements, supports the horn lines, enhances some of bassist Chris Haney's movements and solos with passion and purpose. He even seems to develop a telepathic rapport with drummer John Davis, as both seem to lock in with one another and turn up the heat during Haidu's solo spot.

Slipstreams soars and flows in all the right ways with Haidu piloting his music from the piano.