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
Single: Hatka – ETS
Listen at: SPOTIFY, TIDAL and all other major streaming services!
Buy digital at: Bandcamp
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.