Label: Self released, 2026
Personnel - Garrett Folger: trumpet, flugelhorn; Anthony Fuoco: piano; Carmen Castaldi: drums, percussion.
Ohio-based trumpeter and composer Garrett Folger reunites his Horizon Trio—with Anthony Fuoco on piano and Carmen Castaldi on drums—for Oscilla, a live album captured at the Treelawn Music Hall, a former Slovenian workmen’s home turned music venue. Drawing from avant-garde traditions, the trio builds impressionistic arches across seven Folger originals, all devoid of artificiality.
The winning combination of sounds is evident from the thoughtfully layered opening track, “Ephemerõs-IO-Virga”. Clocking in at 15 minutes, the piece unfolds through dreamy auras and suspended modes, fostering a tranquil communication that evokes misty, beautiful landscapes. Folger’s trumpet playing—often combining pure melody with free impulses—recalls Enrico Rava, while Fuoco and Castaldi support him with refined taste and admirable restraint. Vamping sequences, shaped as chilled rubato cruises, emerge shrouded in self-possessed melodicism, before the group brings the piece to a close with avant-garde zest.
Both “Arnica Montana” and “Parfums” were included on the trio’s previous album, Horizon (2025). The former favors counterpoint, with Fuoco’s staccato comping assuming an almost percussive quality, while Folger’s floating melodies shift between playfulness, emotional depth, and a persistent, obsessive quality of ideas. The piece ultimately resolves into a harmonically tight-knit conclusion. Castaldi’s exquisite kit work is noticeable throughout the recording, propelling and sustaining the trio’s open vision; he is particularly compelling on “Contrasts”, where boundless pushes and pulls dominate.
“Torrent” establishes a constructive dialogue between Folger and Fuoco, showcasing the former’s impressive range and the latter’s eurythmic piano streams, before swelling to epic proportions and dissolving into a diffuse cloud. While “Pour de Prunes” invites us into pure spontaneous balladry—its interplay revealing more dynamism than initially apparent—“Parfums” brings the program to a close in a delicate dance, launched by a 4/4 piano ostinato and featuring Folger’s multiple riffs over Fuoco and Castaldi’s solid harmonic and rhythmic frameworks.
Horizon Trio plays with an optimal sense of space and texture, conquering the ear with crisp, elegant brushstrokes that reflect the musicians’ authentic voices. Both the individual contributions and the collective whole offer something to explore and absorb.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Ephemerõs-IO-Virga ► 02 - Arnica Montana ► 04 - Torrent