HATKA (Gray, Tuomi, Wilkinson)

Toinen Kerros | Nokiantie 2-4, Helsinki

thu 3.9.26 | Concert starts: 7pm

Entry 15/8€

• Reduced price for pensioners, unemployed, students + ages 15-17

• Free entry for children under 15

Hatka is a transatlantic free-jazz meeting point where three improvisers operate: Darin Gray (upright bass, preparations, electronics), Janne Tuomi (drums, percussion), and Alan Wilkinson (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, voice).

Hatka performed at Telakka Jazz (Tampere, Finland) on the first Friday night of January 2025. The following Sunday the trio visited a studio to record a session – music captured in the festival afterglow, fuelled by a shared commitment to free expression.

The album is titled Quartet for a reason. A fourth voice, saxophonist Jone Takamäki, was originally meant to join the group for both the live performance and the studio recording. Quartet is what was planned and what remains. Jone couldn’t make it, so he never played under the name Hatka. His absence became especially poignant after his passing in summer 2025, and Quartet inevitably became a memory piece: a way to honour a deeply valued fellow musician, his sound, and his life.

Alan Wilkinson: UK saxophonist/clarinettist with a fiercely individual voice; a major presence in British free improvisation with decades of uncompromising work and collaborations.

Darin Gray: US-born bassist/composer, now based in Finland, a long-time figure in creative improvised music with wide international collaborations.

Janne Tuomi: Tampere-based drummer/percussionist known for detailed, textural playing and high-energy improvisation; active across Finnish creative music incl. Hot Heros, Tahmela Six (Mustik Motel’s first release!).

📷 (Gray & Wilkinson): Antti Kujala

📷 (Tuomi): Roman Odjinud

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Suhina Klubi: A platform for improvised and experimental music and sound art from Finland and abroad.

Supported by: Koneen Säätiö / Kone Foundation