The title Quartet carries its own quiet story. Originally intended as a four-piece live performance and studio session, the music became something else — a document of presence and absence, of what remains when plans shift and listening takes over.

This is free jazz, yes. But it’s also texture, momentum, humour, surprise. It’s not about complexity for its own sake. It’s about attention.

Today the record is yours to hear.

Also available on all other major streaming services.

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

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.

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