Sat, November 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
WADADA LEO SMITH, JAKOB BRO & MARCUS GILMORE
feat. Thomas Morgan
Pierre Boulez Saal
Legendary trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith returns to Europe for the last time with a newly assembled trio. Smith, Jakob Bro, and Marcus Gilmore first met in January 2025 in a recording studio in New York. Their instant chemistry can be heard on the resulting, forthcoming album—and at Berlin’s most intimate concert hall. Drawing on the music from their debut recording, the three artists will also present new pieces specially commissioned for the occasion by the Pierre Boulez Saal, with double-bassist Thomas Morgan joining as a special guest.
Artists
Trumpet
Guitar
Percussion
Double Bass
EVENT TIMELINE
artist biographies
Wadada Leo Smith was born in Leland, Mississippi, in 1941 and grew up with the Delta blues and jazz traditions. He received his first musical training from his stepfather, composer and guitarist Alex “Little Bill” Wallace, and later in the U.S. Military Band Program, at the Sherwood School of Music, and at Wesleyan University. As a member of the groundbreaking Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM) in Chicago, he performed early on with artists including Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Muhal Richard Abrams, Richard Davis, Steve McCall, and many others. He developed his own visual musical language, called “Ankhrasmation,” and published writings on the theory and philosophy of music. Recent commissions include Gondwana: Earth, a Blue Sanctuary for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and String Quartet #13 for the JACK Quartet. Wadada Leo Smith currently leads several of his own ensembles, among them Najwa with guitarists Brandon Ross and Lama Smith, bassist Bill Laswell, and drummer Pheeroan Aklaff, and the Golden Quintet. Over the course of his career, he has performed at all major jazz festivals around the world and released more than 100 albums as a band leader. He has taught at the University of New Haven, the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, at Bard College, and, from 1994 to 2013, at the California Institute of the Arts, where he was awarded a honorary doctorate and the UCLA Medal. He has received numerous other awards, including the Doris Duke Artist Award in 2016.
Danish guitarist and composer Jakob Bro received his training at the Danish Royal Academy of Music, the Berklee School of Music, and the New School in New York. He started out as a member of Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band and Tomasz Stańko’s Dark Eyes Quintet, and went on to release 16 albums as a bandleader to date, performing with Lee Konitz, Bill Frisell, Kenny Wheeler, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Andrew D'Angelo, Chris Speed, George Garzone, Craig Taborn, and many others. His current projects include collaborations with Midori Takada, Charles Lloyd, Ambrose Akinmusire, Marilyn Crispell, Nils Petter Molvær, Palle Mikkelborg, Andrew Cyrille, Marilyn Mazur, Joe Lovano, Joey Baron, Thomas Morgan, Larry Grenadier, and Anders Christensen. 2021 saw the release of his acclaimed trio album Uma Elmo with Arve Henriksen and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy, which was followed by the Paul Motian tribute Once Around The Room in 2022 and Taking Turns with Lee Konitz, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Thomas Morgan, and Andrew Cyrille in 2024. Tours have taken Jakob Bro to Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, South America, South Africa, the United States, and throughout Europe. His numerous awards include the Carl Prize, the Danish Music Award, and being named “Rising Star Guitar” by DownBeat magazine’s critics’ poll.
Over the course of his 20-plus-year career, New York-based drummer, composer, and producer Marcus Gilmore has collaborated with artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Pharoah Sanders, Pat Metheny, Ambrose Akinmusire, Vijay Iyer, Brad Mehldau, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Roy Hargrove, and Chick Corea on his Grammy Award-winning album Antidote. Performances with his solo, trio, and quintet projects have taken him to more than 60 countries worldwide. He was a protégé of the Rolex Arts Initiative, where he worked closely with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain, and can be heard on the soundtrack of the Oscar-winning animated film Soul. Commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, he wrote his first large orchestral work, Pulse, which premiered in 2023. In May 2025, his album Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard was released, featuring Morgan Guerin, David Virelles, Emmanuel Michael, Rashaan Carter, and Burniss Travis.
Thomas Morgan studied at the Manhattan School of Music. One of the most sought-after bassists on the international jazz scene, he can be heard on more than 70 albums and has performed with artists such as Paul Motian, John Abercrombie, Tomasz Stańko, Steve Coleman, Kenny Wollesen, Sylvie Courvoisier, Mark Feldman, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn, and Florian Weber, among many others. He has also worked closely with David Binney, Jim Black, Samuel Blaser, Jakob Bro, Scott DuBois, and Bill Frisell, and formed his own trio with keyboardist Pete Rende and drummer Dan Weiss.
YOUR VISIT
How To Get There
Pierre Boulez Saal
Barenboim-Said Akademie
Französische Straße 33d
10117 Berlin
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Public Transport
U-Bahn U2 Hausvogteiplatz, U5 Museumsinsel, U6 Unter den Linden
S-Bahn S / U Friedrichstraße
Tram M1, 12 Mitte / Am Kupfergraben
Bus 147 Werderscher Markt; 100, 300, N5 Staatsoper
Bicycle
Bicycle racks are available on the street “Hinter der Katholischen Kirche.”
Car
Q-PARK parking garage Unter den Linden / Staatsoper
Bebelplatz 2
10117 Berlin
Theater rate (5.30 pm – 11.30 pm, paid in advance): €10
Please note there is a construction site across from the hall on Französische Straße. The street is narrowed, and cars or taxis are not allowed to stop in front of the Pierre Boulez Saal entrance.
Opening Hours
Box Office
Monday to Friday 2 pm to 6 pm
Closed on weekends and holidays
On performance days, the box office opens one hour prior to an event on weekdays and two hours on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Papagena Call Center
Ticket hotline +49 30 4799 7411
Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm
Sunday and public holidays 2pm to 8pm
Food & Drinks
Casalot Catering welcomes Pierre Boulez Saal visitors before and after concerts, serving a variety of dishes of Arab cuisine.
On concert nights, the bar opens one hour before the start of an event and remains open after the performance. You may also place pre-orders for intermission right at the counter.
More informantion on our catering can be found here.
Coat Check
Small bags up to a maximum size of A4 (21x30 cm) and jackets may be taken into the concert hall. Luggage, helmets, large umbrellas, and other bulky items must be stored at the coat check.
The coat check is free and located behind the staircase in the foyer, on the left-hand side.
Accessibility
To book wheelchair-accessible seating, other seats for visitors with disabilities, or companion seats, please contact us directly.
+49 30 4799 7411
tickets@boulezsaal.de
All wheelchair seats are accessible by elevator. All visitors, including patrons using a wheelchair, will enter the Pierre Boulez Saal through the main entrance. Tickets will be checked at the hall doors.
In order to make access as easy as possible, we kindly ask that you inform us of your requirements when booking your tickets.
Restrooms for visitors with disabilities are located in the basement and on the balcony level and are accessible by elevator.
Four parking spaces for visitors with disabilities are available on the street Hinter der Katholischen Kirche.
