First Hatka Media Bites Are Here
Hatka’s album Quartet lands on 26 February and the signal is already out there. Before the record is even officially released, the trio has been picked up by international jazz media and radio, and you can see and hear why.
To set the scene, here’s a clip from Hatka’s explosive live set at Telakka Jazz 2025 in Tampere: Darin Gray (bass), Janne Tuomi (drums), Alan Wilkinson (saxophone) in full flight. This gig happened two days before the Quartet album recording session.
Hatka also appears in Rob Garratt’s All About Jazz festival report from Telakka Jazz 2025 — capturing the trio’s intensity and the sense that something new had arrived. Read the gig report here: Telakka Jazz 2025: Finland’s Second City Gets Spiritual article @ All About Jazz
“Describing this music would be like trying to catch bullets in your teeth, and spit them out onto a plate…”
“…did not let up for breath until 40 minutes later.”
Valon Kuvia blog wrote review of the Quartet album. Blog post it self is in Finnish: here! For your convenience here’s same blog post with Finnish to English translation by Google: here!
“Alan Wilkinson’s raw sound, and occasional electronic effects, enrich the album’s palette of timbres.”
“Shaping a tense dramatic arc without melodies or a catchy tempo.”
Daniel Spicer is a writer, broadcaster, improviser and poet based in Brighton, UK. He writes about music for The Wire, Jazzwise, Songlines, WeJazz and The Quietus. He runs monthly radio show one One Jazz streaming radio called Mystery Lesson. Hatka is featured on his February 2026 show on around 27 minutes mark.
Canada-based One Man’s Jazz featured Hatka on episode #1447, with the host giving the trio (and Mustik Motel) a lovely spotlight and selecting a track from Quartet in the show. Listen around 1h 40mins.
As we have the vinyl in time, we are shipping it prior to full digital album release. Get your copy from Mustik Motel’s bandcamp: Hatka – Quartet
Way To Highlights
As Way To continues its journey, we want to highlight a few mentions and milestones around Eero Savela’s release.
In Norway, Salt Peanuts also reviewed the record, adding another respected Nordic voice to the conversation. Read full review in Norwegian here: EERO SAVELA | salt peanuts*
“An excellent release overall.”
“…places the band among the very best in today’s jazz…”
UK Vibe featured the album in their review coverage, bringing Way To to a wider international jazz audience. Read the full review here: Eero Savela ‘Way To’ LP (Mustik Motel) 3/5 – ukvibe – astral travelling since 1993
“Savela’s trumpet tone is lyrical and unforced, more conversational than declarative.”
“…the dialogue between trumpet and Wurlitzer is especially rewarding…”
Eero was also featured via Estonian host Lauri Leis on Klassikaraadio, extending the album’s reach through radio. Listen the radio show here: Fantaasia. Lauri Leis | Klassikaraadio | ERR
North Star Sounds show on Jazz90.1 radio station Rochester, NY featured Eero’s Timangi on their show. Listen around 2h 11minutes mark.
Arttu Tolonen wrote a review of Way To on: We Jazz Magazine / Winter 2025 “Weathering” | We Jazz Records
“Now Savela steps out of the section with his debut as a leader, Way To.”
“Savela possesses a cool and controlled sound, one that is eminently capable of carrying an album.”
“There are several standout tracks on this strong album.”
Eero Savela was nominated as one of the Indieco‘s Jazz Artist of the year!
Eero was also nominated at the Funky Awards 2025 in the Artist of the Year category.
That one guy on Discogs commented!
Superb album and the vinyl sounds very good! IMO probably the best jazz album made in Finland in recent years. Highly recommended!
We’re grateful for every mention, listen, and share.
Thank you to everyone helping this music travel.
Sharing the story of Tampere Jazz City!
Eero Koski from the Finnish Music Quarterly magazine wanted to know what’s up in Tampere and we had a pleasure sharing our story.
Read it all here: FMQ – Finland’s jazz underground teams up to go global
A few key takeaways from the article:
Over the past few years, the city has spawned a cluster of adventurous jazz labels: Ultraääni, Mustik Motel Music, Puro Recordings, and the long-running Eclipse Music.
With its steady stream of daring releases… Tampere has become an unlikely but undeniable hotspot for contemporary jazz.
Kadi Vija Wins IndieCo 2026 Jazz Category!
Kadi Vija winning the jazz category at the 2026 IndieCo Indie Music Awards feels genuinely special to us. Not only because the recognition is so well deserved, but also because it arrives at the end of an incredible year for Mustik Motel Music.
With both Kadi Vija and Eero Savela nominated at the IndieCo Awards, and with Eero Savela and Lauri Kallio both receiving five-star album reviews, we were already deeply proud. Kadi’s win now feels like a meaningful closing moment. A crown for 2025!
We’re grateful, happy, and honestly moved. Thank you to everyone who has listened, supported, collaborated this year with us.
Introducing: Hatka!
We’re introducing a new creature in the Mustik Motel roster: Hatka — a transatlantic free-jazz trio where three seasoned improvisers meet: Darin Gray (bass), Janne Tuomi (drums), and Alan Wilkinson (saxophone). Expect music that’s physical and spacious at the same time.
Hatka’s sound can be described as physical and spacious at the same time. Instead of the familiar “front line + rhythm section” setup, the trio works as a constantly shifting balance of equals: shaping resonance, friction, silence, and sudden momentum in real time. Intense, playful, unafraid of noise, abrupt beauty, or the unknown.
Single: ETS – 29.2.2026 – DIGITAL
The album becomes available on Bandcamp the same day.
What does “ETS” mean?
“ETS” nods to a very Finnish phrase: “en tiä saatana” — roughly “hell if I know / oh shit, I don’t know.” The title comes via guitarist/comedian Heikki Silvennoinen, describing tour life: you count the days until you’re finally home… then you’re back in the dark, rain tapping the window, staring out from the kitchen thinking ETS. A perfect anti-slogan — the opposite of tidy productivity mantras.
We’ll share the full album context later. For now, “ETS” is the door handle. Turn it.
Thank you for an unforgettable 2025
As 2025 comes to a close, we’re looking back with a big grin and a lot of gratitude. Mustik Motel Music exists because we love this music and it keeps moving forward because you listen, share, come to gigs, buy records, and tell a friend “Hey, you need to hear this!”.
This year we had the joy of releasing three full-length albums:
- Lauri Kallio – Turtles, Cats and Other Creatures
- Eero Savela – Way To
- Kadi Vija – Tiny Hands Gathering Wonder, The World Becomes Magic
Each of these releases has its own world inside it. Different moods, different textures, different ways of telling the truth through sound. We feel genuinely lucky to help bring them into the world.
And 2025 didn’t just bring new music. It brought some seriously encouraging nods along the way. Kadi Vija’s album received an Emma nomination, and both Kadi’s and Eero’s albums earned IndieCo nominations. On top of that, we’ve been thrilled to see our releases mentioned across multiple year-end best-of lists.
- Tina Edwards top 20 jazz and jazz-ish records of 2025
- Matti Nives | HHV Mag Artist & Partner Vinyl Charts of 2025 | Charts | HHV
- DJ Jukola 2025 selects: Finland
- desibeli.net – Lauri Kallio: Turtles, Cats and Other Creatures
- Aisteja, älyä ja mielikuvitusta – arviossa Eero Savelan Way To -albumi – Kulttuuritoimitus
- Eero Savela: Way To (Mustik Motel, 2025) – Valon kuvia
- Eero Savela ‘Way To’ LP (Mustik Motel) 3/5 – ukvibe – astral travelling since 1993
- Lauri Kallio ‘Turtles, Cats and Other Creatures’ LP (Mustik Motel) 4/5 – ukvibe – astral travelling since 1993
- Vinyyliviisikko: Mikko Pettinen Why Not, Eero Savela, The Five Corners Quintet, Eero Koivistoinen, Openness Trio – Jazzpossu
- OCTA New Music Weekly – Episode #323 – One Chord To Another – A Finnish Pop Site
- OCTA New Music Weekly – Episode #338 – One Chord To Another – A Finnish Pop Site
- Favorite Finnish Albums of 2025 – One Chord To Another – A Finnish Pop Site
- Record Store X employees have favourited: Lauri Kallio, Eero Savela
Awards and lists aren’t the whole point, but they are a meaningful signal that this music is landing, resonating, and travelling farther than we could ever push it alone.
So: Thank You.
Thank you to the artists for your vision, your work, your patience, and your courage to put something real out into the world.
Thank you to everyone behind the scenes: recording, mixing, mastering, artwork, pressing, friend labels, distribution, record stores, promo, radio, writers, DJs, venues, photographers, and all the fellow doers who help the wheels turn.
Special thank you to all our listeners: you’re the reason this label gets to exist at all.
We already have new projects in motion for 2026, and we can’t wait to share what’s next: new sounds, new stories, new memories.
Until then: take care, keep listening, and keep your curiosity alive.
Warm jazz love from the cold north,
Antti & Jarno / Mustik Motel Music
Kadi Vija Emma Gala 2025 nominee!
We’ve got news that still doesn’t quite fit in our heads: our artist Kadi Vija has been nominated for the Emma Award in the Jazz category (Vuoden Jazz) for her album Tiny Hands Gathering Wonder, The World Becomes Magic.
The Emma nominations for 2025 were announced on 10th of December 2025, and the awards will be presented at the Emma Gala in Espoo on 7th of March 2026.
For us at Mustik Motel, this nomination is more than a headline. It’s a reminder of why we do this in the first place.
Tiny Hands Gathering Wonder, The World Becomes Magic is also a deeply human record – built around everyday wonder, family life, and the kind of questions kids ask that adults should probably take more seriously. The album was created together with drummer–producer Teppo Mäkynen, and it carries that special feeling of something carefully crafted that still leaves room for air and surprise.
We want to send a massive thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey: the musicians and collaborators, everyone who’s listened, shared, bought the record, booked gigs, written about the music, and shown up in the room. Independent music is basically a chain reaction of trust—and we’re grateful for every link in it.
Onnea & aitäh, Kadi. We’re proud – and still slightly stunned.
If you haven’t spent time with the album yet, now’s a pretty good moment:
Listen / Buy Vinyl: Bandcamp
Further Emma Gala read in Finnish: Vuoden Jazz 2025 – Emma Gaala
Tampere Jazz Happening 2025
The 44th International Jazz Happening took place last weekend, filled with joy, reunions with old and new friends, and plenty of great music. This year, we had the incredible honor of both opening and closing the festival with performances by Mustik Motel artists.
See Maarit Kytöharju Tahmela Six photos here: Instagram
Marita Nyrhinen had a good impression on Tahmela Six, read in Finnish here:
Tampere Jazz Happening 2025 soitettiin uusissa mutta väliaikaisissa tiloissa – Kulttuuritoimitus
Ville Kurki took photos of Lauri Kallio and his band: Instagram
Tahmela Six – Ground VI – Kiikala Live
Mid August of this year Tahmela Six gathered at Lauri Kallio’s recording studio complex and ranch at Kiikala. First album was recorded inside during mid of the winter so it was only right ding to do to set the second album recording outside. Weather was pleasant warm and the group squeezed something good on the tape. Listen your self!
Second album is coming out closer to summer 2026!
Kadi Vija New album out now!
Join us to celebrate vocal instrumentalist Kadi Vija new album “Tiny Hands Gathering Wonder, The World Becomes Magic”!
The album is a vibrant narrative album celebrating the beauty and complexity of a rainbow family. Jazz vocal artist Kadi Vija shares her journey as a social parent, exploring love, connection, and the unique rhythms of family life.
“The album is a journey through time and imagination. At moments, it feels like sitting at the edge of your childhood bed; at others, you’re caught in the repetitive, numbing rhythm of everyday life. Then suddenly, a breathtakingly tender moment unfolds a landscape bathed in the colors and sensitivity of nature.”
– Laura Malmivaara, actress
Featured Musicians
Kadi Vija – vocals, synths, hand clap, percussions
Teppo Mäkynen – vocals, synths, hand clap, percussions
Teppo Vija – piano
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
Available now on Mustik Motel Webshop & Bandcamp. Pre-orders starts shipping today! Distribution to all well-equipped stores starts today! Please follow our social media for updates!
One more thing! If you happen to be in Helsinki this weekend here’s a tip: Kadi Vija is having her very own festival in Herttoniemi. She will be playing the album material live on Saturday 4.10.2025 at Treffi. Go festival and read more at her website: Herttoniemi Jazzfest – Kadi Vija