Garrett Folger (trumpet) and Aidan Plank (bass) have performed together in many musical settings, but their DUO project brings their collaboration into sharp focus. Rooted in spontaneous improvisation, timbral exploration, and deep listening, the duo creates music that unfolds in the moment with clarity and intention. Their debut recording, DUO (2025), reflects this approach, presenting a focused document of two artists deeply embedded in the Cleveland jazz community as they craft a voice uniquely their own. Listen to DUO on Bandcamp or Spotify.
This event is free and open to the public.
Garrett Folger is a freelance composer, educator, and performer based in Cleveland, Ohio. A graduate of the conservatory of music at Baldwin-Wallace University, he has performed across the country, including at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, as well as internationally in Canada, Europe, and in numerous festivals across Cuba in 2023. Notable musical collaborations at home include performances with Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Jazzworks, and his own group co-led by Carmen Castaldi and Anthony Fuoco where many of his own compositions are interpreted. Garrett’s large ensemble compositions have been performed by groups such as the Third Law Collective and the Skatch Andersson Orchestra. Follow Garett on Instagram and Youtube.
Double bassist, electric bassist, and composer Aidan Plank has performed for the past 27 years in the broad and diverse circumstances required of a jazz musician. Since 2013, Plank has served as the bassist for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, where he has collaborated with guest artists including Gerald Clayton, Joe Lovano, Maria Schneider, Michael Philip Mossman, Bobby Sanabria, Tierney Sutton, Regina Carter, Ken Peplowski, Bria Skonberg, and many others. Plank’s own collaborative ensemble, Pulse, features saxophonist Brad Wagner, pianist Anthony Fuoco, and drummer Dustin May. Pulse explores new compositions by its members and also works to cultivate a midwestern sound drawing influence from the music of Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden. Plank is also active as a jazz composer. His compositions and arrangements are performed by the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra as well as the Third Law Collective.
Currently, Plank serves as the Assistant Teaching Professor of Jazz Bass at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts. He holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from Youngstown State University.
“Listening to two kindred spirits making music in the moment is always a joy, and Plank and Folger do so with remarkable rapport.”