BRO, JAKOB & WADADA LEO SMITH & MARCUS GILMORE

A powerful intergenerational trio emerges on Murasaki, featuring Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet, Marcus Gilmore on drums, and Jakob Bro on guitar. Recorded at Power Station (formerly Avatar Studios) in New York, this exploratory session unfolded spontaneously—no retakes, no discussions, just a shared musical language rooted in intuition and trust. “It felt as though this music already existed before we started playing,” Bro reflects. Murasaki captures the creative summit of three visionary artists, each pushing beyond the boundaries of form and genre. This marks Wadada Leo Smith’s final European tour appearance, with select live dates in Berlin, Antwerp, Reykjavik and Copenhagen in November.

"...the material is spacious, devoid of any obvious time signature and composed by all three musicians, often including improvisation. “Sonic Mountains” features Smith’s powerful blasts before the trumpeter drops out midway, allowing room for Bro’s chimed, minimalist chording and Gilmore’s creative cymbal accents. “Yoyogi Park Dream” features Marcus Gilmore’s brush work among Jakob Bro’s dreamy, effects-laden accompaniment, and brass expressionism that proves Wadada Leo Smith’s lungs are at full capacity at age 83.

The best of the co-composed pieces is “Heart Language,” Bro’s elegant intro and call-and-response lines meshing with Smith as Gilmore creates a supple undercurrent. Smith contributes one composition, his solo piece “Chronicles of Bending — Air Columns and Fire Discourses” making the listener want to hear more than its one minute and 37 seconds. But Smith and Gilmore’s co-composed “Imagine the Fire and Flames That Light Up the Light World” makes up for any perceived slight. Clocking in at more than eight minutes, the track seems to encapsulate free jazz’s past, present and future." – Jazztimes

"Murasaki and The Montclair Sessions represent the best in improvised music. Wadada Leo Smith is exceptional on both, and the other talented musicians frame his lines brilliantly. Bro is ostensibly the leader, but he is fully aware of the musical talents in the room. He rarely solos, more content to share the spotlight. Listeners do themselves a disservice by not gravitating towards both recordings. [...] Seldom will you see such an aggregation of talent. Crispell is an NEA Jazz Master and Cyrille and Smith deserving of that title as well. Gilmore is acknowledged as one of today’s leading drummers, increasingly playing ‘out’ as well as ‘in.’ Bro has been increasingly prolific in recent years, becoming a major force in improvised music."