Ian Wardenski Quintet, Unfoldings Review
Ian Wardenski’s latest endeavor, Unfoldings, is structured as a compelling five-movement suite featuring the distinctive contributions of his quintet: Ian Wardenski on guitar, Tamara Tucker on vocals, Mercedes Beckman on alto saxophone, Savino Palumbo on piano, Amy Shook on bass, and Frank Russo on drums. This album continues his exploration of the intricate interplay between melodic fluidity and textural density in harmonic and rhythmic meetings. The album presents a cohesive narrative that draws on Wardenski’s unique voice as a composer and theorist, seamlessly integrating his academic inclinations with his musical voice, reflecting his deep knowledge and artistry.
The concept behind Unfoldings is built on Wardenski’s fascination with developing thematic material through varied configurations of core melodic motifs—based on a pitch-class set. These class set motifs serve as a springboard for the improvisatory dialogues and angular soundscapes that characterize each movement. The album’s structural form evokes a classical suite, but it pulsates with the energy and spontaneity of modern jazz. Movement I establishes a foundation, its motivic fragments inviting listeners into an evolving conversation of development. Wardenski’s guitar solo in this movement commands attention with his style of developing melodic stores told through a guitar timbred like a horn. On alto saxophone, Beckman shines in delivering lines that alternately provoke and harmonize with Wardenski’s guitar, creating a stimulating interchange.
As the suite progresses, the role and uniqueness of Tucker’s voice come to the forefront, utilized not as a lyrical centerpiece but as an instrumental texture. Her wordless phrasings throughout Movement II and Movement IV intertwine with the quintet, adding a spectral quality that elevates the atmosphere of the compositions. Her vocal delivery has an instrumental quality that juxtaposes her beautiful tone with the rhythmic drive of Frank Russo’s nuanced drumming. Movement II opens with Amy Shook’s resonant bass, establishing a deep groove and leading us into the central theme, which plays tag with the various instruments, doing a dance of breaks and unison melodies. Savino Palumbo’s piano, particularly in Movement III, becomes a catalyst for tension and release, creating cascading harmonies that challenge and uplift the underlying textures supporting the soloist. Palumbo’s solo is mind-bending in its spontaneity of structured themes.
Wardenski’s compositions often reflect a tension between the individual and the ensemble—a push-and-pull that is very much at play in Unfoldings. Movement IV highlights this dynamic, with Shook’s bass and Russo’s drums providing a solid foundation while Wardenski and Beckman explore angular melodic territory above. The dialogue between the guitar and alto saxophone during this section is interesting in its exploration and development of different perspectives on the same narrative. Tucker’s voice and Wardenski’s guitar present the theme with lush harmonic aesthetics, creating subtle colorizations that reflect the modern jazz idiom infused with elements of contemporary classical. It is this quality—the sense of musical dialogue—that makes Unfoldings particularly engaging.
Movement V is a culmination of the thematic explorations undertaken throughout the suite. Here, Wardenski deftly ties together the elements that have surfaced in earlier movements, allowing each musician their moment of reflection and resolution. Tucker’s voice and Palumbo’s piano lines are particularly poignant, their interplay suggesting a kind of musical closure while leaving space for introspective interpretation. Frank Russo’s drumming here struts confidently, adding both flash and nuance, bringing a sense of urgency that propels the ensemble toward the suite’s final resolution.
What stands out most in Unfoldings is Wardenski’s ability to marry his theoretical inclinations with a deeply felt emotional resonance. His penchant for intricate harmonic progressions and rhythmic complexity is balanced by a sensitivity to texture and space—qualities that elevate this suite beyond mere academic exercise. The Ian Wardenski Quintet has crafted an album that invites listeners into a journey of intellectual layers of beauty, intricacy, and expressive movement.
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