Tahmela Six, Hatka and Oresme media mentions
Recent press round-up: reviews and features for Mustik Motel artists across print various media.

UK Vibe – Steve Williams
- Tahmela Six: Alight – UK Vibe
- 4/5 stars
“The band, the album and the label are creating something worth keeping.”
“This is jazz — it is simply their way of exciting us, and nothing about it is typical.”
“No studio walls, no isolation: wind, insects and sheer distance are part of the record, and with nothing to bounce the sound back, the six are audibly listening to one another across open ground.”
Valon Kuvia – Jukka Piiroinen
- Tahmela Six: Alight – Valon Kuvia (in Finnish)
- Tahmela Six: Alight – Valon Kuvia (in English – google translate)
“Birdsong, insect buzz and the hum of wind become part of a shared, open soundscape.”
“The beautiful free jazz of the Tahmela sextet absolutely belongs on Valon kuvia’s 2026 listening recommendations list.”
Jazzrytmit – Osku Rajala
- Tahmela Six: Alight – Jazzrytmit (in Finnish)
- Tahmela Six: Alifht – Jazzrytmit (in English – google translate)
“Altogether a fine, tasteful serving of free jazz — made without ‘limits’, in a healthy rural landscape.”
“Check it out!”
Lux – DJ Bunuel
North Star Sounds
- Tahmela Six: Ground VI – North Star Sounds
- Listen around 2h 10mins
One Man’s Jazz
- Tahmela Six: Alight – One Man’s Jazz
- Listen around 51min 38 seconds

The Free Jazz Collective – Charlie Watkings
“Quartet feels like a good old-fashioned free jazz album, in the best sense. Start to finish it is imbued with that 60s viscerality, creative and raw, moving ever-forwards with driving force.”
“It feels like the second they entered the studio, something must have clicked: this sounds like a group who have been playing together for years.”
“The three musicians together achieve that holy grail of psychic connection where they seem able to turn corners and move the music on with almost simultaneous decision making.”

North Star Sounds
- Mika Kallio & Janne Tuomi: Oresme – North Star Sounds
- Listen around 1h 18mins.
Tahmela Six – Alight out now!
Last August, Tahmela Six set up in the yard of Palmutsaari farm in Kiikala, on the open ground where the field meets the forest. No studio, no walls, no isolation booths — six players, an August afternoon, and whatever the day brought with it. The wind, the insects, the warmth, the distances across an open field: all of it is on the record, not edited around it.

That recording is Alight, the second Tahmela Six album, and it’s out on 21 May — on vinyl and digital.

You may already have heard “Ground VI,” the single we put out at the end of April. It opens the B-side. Around it sit three more pieces, from the “Endless Summer Sun” to the fifteen-minute title track that carries the whole arc of the day. The music moves between near-silence and full collective surge, with the place itself acting as a co-improviser.

Otto Eskelinen, alto sax, flute, shakuhachi
Sami Sippola, tenor sax
Eero Tikkanen, double bass
Eero Savela, trumpet
Janne Tuomi, drums, vibraphone
Topias Tiheäsalo, guitar
We’re celebrating the release live on 27 May at G Livelab, Tampere, Finland, with Lauri Kallio’s group sharing the night.
Listen at: SPOTIFY, TIDAL and all other major streaming services!
Buy digital & vinyl at: Bandcamp
A note on the vinyl: our test presses arrived in good time and we listened — just not loud enough to catch a background noise running through the pressing. That one is on us. The vinyl is delayed while we sort out a proper fix with our pressing plant. Digital is out 21 May as planned; we’ll write the moment the vinyl meets the Mustik Motel mark.
Album: Tahmela Six – Alight
Otto Eskelinen, alto sax, flute, shakuhachi
Sami Sippola, tenor sax
Eero Tikkanen, double bass
Eero Savela, trumpet
Janne Tuomi, drums, vibraphone
Topias Tiheäsalo, guitar
Listen at: SPOTIFY, TIDAL and all other major streaming services!
Buy digital at: Bandcamp
Tahmela Six single Ground VI is here!
Otto Eskelinen, alto sax, flute, shakuhachi
Sami Sippola, tenor sax
Eero Tikkanen, double bass
Eero Savela, trumpet
Janne Tuomi, drums, vibraphone
Topias Tiheäsalo, guitar
Listen at: SPOTIFY, TIDAL and all other major streaming services!
Buy digital at: Bandcamp
Single: Tahmela Six – Ground VI

Otto Eskelinen, alto sax, flute, shakuhachi
Sami Sippola, tenor sax
Eero Tikkanen, double bass
Eero Savela, trumpet
Janne Tuomi, drums, vibraphone
Topias Tiheäsalo, guitar
Listen at: SPOTIFY, TIDAL and all other major streaming services!
Buy digital at: Bandcamp
Latest Mustik Motel features in Media
Recent press round-up: reviews and features for Mustik Motel artists across print various media.
SuomiJazz — Pentti Ronkanen
- Tahmela Six: Mount – SuomiJazz
- 4.5/5 stars
- English translation by google: here
“It doesn’t take many minutes of listening before the feeling arrives: this is my kind of music.”
“They know how to build compelling musical narratives — the tension holds throughout these stories.”
Happy to receive review of Tahmela Six debut album review just before the second one is coming! Here’s another by Pentti who been busy listening to our releases.
- Eero Savela: Way To – SuomiJazz
- 4/5 stars
- English translation by google: here
“This quartet has its own sound — and it’s a good one.”
“Savela and his partners have crafted a record’s worth of really excellent contemporary jazz.”
“Clear structures and catchy melodic elements blend enjoyably with the music’s freer currents.”
UK Vibe — Andy Hazell
“Oresme is a triumph of close listening.”
“The music prioritises the extension of tone over the moment of impact.”
“Percussion that feels richer and more melodic as a consequence.”
One Man’s Jazz — Maurice Hogue
One Man’s Jazz featuring Mika Kallio & Janne Tuomi around 1h 44mins time.
Viive – Sammal – out now!
Listen!
Riikka Suutari – vocal and synths
Antti Niiranen – drums
Samuli Heikkinen – bass
Oula Karppinen – saxophone
Listen at: SPOTIFY, TIDAL and all other major streaming services!
Buy digital at: Bandcamp
Single: Viive – Sammal

“Sammal” (eng. Moss) is Viive’s first release with their newly solidified four-piece lineup. The track has already evolved into a standout moment in their live set while touring their debut album.
“Sammal” captures the grittier edge of the band’s sonic spectrum: saxophone screams through the cosmic atmosphere in the heavy pulse of the rhythmic section. The quartet’s instrumental groove is also accompanied by Riikka’s lyrical expression.
The collaboration of the musicians results in an organic yet intense adventure that will unravel one chapter from the band’s second album currently in the works.
Riikka Suutari – vocal and synths
Antti Niiranen – drums
Samuli Heikkinen – bass
Oula Karppinen – saxophone
Listen at: SPOTIFY, TIDAL and all other major streaming services!
Buy digital at: Bandcamp
Viive to release new single: Sammal

Single: Sammal – 23.4.2026 – DIGITAL
The single will be available on all major streaming platforms upon the release date.
“Sammal” (eng. Moss) is Viive’s first release with their newly solidified four-piece lineup. The track has already evolved into a standout moment in their live set while touring their debut album.
“Sammal” captures the grittier edge of the band’s sonic spectrum: saxophone screams through the cosmic atmosphere in the heavy pulse of the rhythmic section. The quartet’s instrumental groove is also accompanied by Riikka’s lyrical expression.
The collaboration of the musicians results in an organic yet intense adventure that will unravel one chapter from the band’s second album currently in the works.
Riikka Suutari – vocal and synths
Antti Niiranen – drums
Samuli Heikkinen – bass
Oula Karppinen – saxophone


Mika Kallio & Janne Tuomi – Oresme Is Released Today
Two drummers exploring inner and outer space.
Oresme takes its name from a 14th-century philosopher who argued that a rotating Earth and a rotating cosmos would look identical from the inside. All perceived motion depends on where you stand. Kallio and Tuomi take that as their starting point: nine tracks built from drums, cymbals, gongs, vibraphone, and a lot of open space.
Today the record is yours to hear.

Featured Musicians
Mika Kallio – drums, percussion, Paiste cymbals & gongs
Janne Tuomi – drums, cymbals, gongs, percussion, vibraphone
Let us know where the music lands! We’re always happy to hear your thoughts and share your support across our channels and celebrate the music together.
STREAM
Also available on all other major streaming services.
VINYL
Record store distribution has started!



Oresme is a co-release with Roku Records. The idea behind it belongs to Ville Vuorjoki — punk bassist, DIY legend, and the mogul running Roku Records. Inspired by Sandy Nelson‘s prolific drumming output, Vuorjoki had nursed an ambition for a record built entirely around percussion for over 20 years. When he caught Janne Tuomi playing live, the missing piece fell into place. After two decades, it was finally time to make the call. Tuomi said yes almost immediately — and then suggested Mika Kallio join him. It is the first release in Roku Records‘ catalogue that was, in a sense, commissioned from the artist.
