Hasse Walli
Encyclopedia
Hannes Mikael Waldemar "Hasse" Walli was born on 10 February 1948 in Helsinki
. His father Aarno Walli was a musician and bandleader, his mother Anne-Marie Strandberg a singer. Hasse Walli was about ten years old when he started playing drums. He drummed in various bands in early 1960s such as The Islanders, The Electric Five and Nameless. Gradually Walli switched from drums to electric guitar. After Nameless had split, Walli started as a solo guitarist in The Typhoons. The Typhoons split when its members had to join the obligatory military service.
In spring 1966 Walli can be said to have finally launched his professional musical career as guitarist when he started playing with Jormas
, a band which was extremely popular not only in Finland but in the rest of Scandinavia
too. During the seven months Hasse Walli spent in Jormas, they toured expansively Finland, Sweden
and Denmark
, Walli also appearing on the band's album and singles. Again, Jormas split too when its members had to join military service; Walli finding soon himself doing a brief stint in The Frankies of Johnny Liebkind. However, soon Hasse Walli became frustrated in having to play soft pop, when the rawer sounds of The Yardbirds
and John Mayall
's Bluesbreakers (which especially inspired Walli) started to make waves in the mid-60s rock scene.
With his friend Måns Groundstroem, Edward Vesala
(who was not to spend a lot of time in the band) and British expatriate Jim Pembroke
, Walli initiated a new band dedicated to this sound, which was baptized Blues Section
, and which was to become a groudbreaking act in the whole Finnish rock scene. Another great inspiration to Blues Section was the Jimi Hendrix
gig in May 1967 at Kulttuuritalo
, Helsinki. Blues Section lasted until the late 1968, during which time Walli recorded with the band their seminal eponymous album, several singles, film music and other material later to be heard on various collection albums, and played over 150 live gigs. During this period Walli also played guitar in the jazz band Otto Donner Treatment, the composer-musician Henrik Otto Donner being the essential and extremely innovative producer figure behind Blues Section and their record label Love Records
.
Following the split of Blues Section, Hasse Walli played for some time in the band of light pop singer Tapani Kansa
and as a bar musician at the restaurant Fennia. In summer 1969 Walli was planning a new band called Paradise with the former Jormas members Pepe Willberg, Kikke Bergholm and Matti Oiling, which never came into being, though Willberg later on used the name Paradise with his own band. On 31 August 1969 Hasse Walli was involved in a car accident which interrupted his career for a while after when he was returning from a gig. Walli's injured left hand was operated and the guitarist, forced to take a break from playing, spent some time in the bohemian circles of Copenhagen
, leading a vagrant life also as a street musician in French Riviera
.
After returning to Finland, Hasse Walli played for a while with Kirka & D'Islanders, in a band called Zeus producing Vesa-Matti Loiri
's first album 4+20 and collaborating with jazz musician Make Lievonen. Hasse Walli Eternal Band was a jazzy project which worked under different line-ups from 1968 to 1971, playing among all at the first Ruisrock festival of Turku in 1970. Other jazz projects of this period where Walli contributed were Irina Milan & Tabu, Simo Big Band, Carita Holmström
's backing band, Paroni Paakkunainen & Unisono and German Heinz Sauer-Günther Lenz Quintet; furthemore, he played with Edward Vesala and Junnu Aaltonen, also at Afrikan Tähti band of pop singer Maarit. Walli's Punainen Lanka ensemble where Eija Ahvo and Harri Saksala sang and which explored folk music of Finland and America, was part of 70s leftist political song movement gaining strong foothold in Finland.
The band Piirpauke, combining folk music, ethnic sounds (later to be known as world music
) to progressive jazz rock, was one of Hasse Walli's best-known musical projects, starting in 1975. The major figure in the band was Sakari Kukko
, a multi-instrumentalist playing saxophone, flute and keyboards, who had played with Walli in various ensembles, Kukko-Walli Quartet among them. The best known Piirpauke track is the hypnotic 'Konevitsan kirkonkellot' from the band's eponymous 1975 debut album, based on a traditional Karelia
n folk song. The band had an enormous live success and Hasse Walli stayed in Piirpauke about three years, later returning to the band for its tours in 1983 and 1994.
In the late 1970s Hasse Walli was active in ELMU, a society established in 1978 to propagate live music in a time when disco and recorded music were worryingly diminishing the working opportunities of musicians playing live. This was also the time when Walli got more and more interested in world music. His enthusiasism for reggae started in 1977 after having seen Bob Marley
performing live in Stockholm
. Hasse Walli had visited a youth festival in Cuba
with Punainen Lanka and Sakari Kukko, and he formed in 1979 Hasse Walli Projekti which played Cuban music and reggae rhythms.
The first eponymous solo album of Hasse Walli was released in 1981, the year when Walli was also chosen the Musician of the Year by Katso magazine. The next year, when he had his band Hasse Walli All Stars, saw the second album, called Sounds Afro! By this time Walli had seriously gotten into African music, and he dissolved the band and travelled in January 1982 to Dakar
, the capital of Senegal
, to explore local sounds such as Mbalax
, Senegalese pop.
Jamming with local musicians at clubs, Walli practiced hard to get into the heart of this musical style quite differing from the Western genres of rock, blues and jazz he had already learned to master. Hasse Walli played with some musicians who had been performing with the legendary Youssou N'Dour
. On returning to Finland and enrichened by his experiences in Senegal, Walli started a band called Dakar Sound. Afro-Line was another band of Walli he started with Congolese expatriate Marie-Alphonse Liwata, releasing the albums Viva Africa (1983), Dakar Nights (1985) and Close to the Line (1987). During the years 1983-86 Hasse Walli shuttled between Gambia, Dakar and Finland.
By 1988 Walli felt he had finally learned enough to compose and arrange Mbalax music and start an all-African band for this (Walli's earlier Afro bands had mostly consisted of Finnish musicians), and he returned to Dakar for this purpose. Soon got together the new band, called Asamaan, with such musicians as Manel Diop, Yamar Thiam, Aladji Oumar Faye, Omar Cheikh Diene, Pape Sarr and Mousse Gueye. The first Asamaan album Modern Mbalax came out in 1989, receiving excellent reviews in world music circles. Walli and Asamaan played at folk music, jazz and rock festivals, doing also some street performances in Helsinki. Asamaan published two more albums, African Sky (1990) and, with a new line-up, Teranga (1993). Film director Kari Happonen documented Mbalax music scene in Dakar and Asamaan in his 1991 documentary Mbalax! Rytmin lähteillä.
Teranga marked the end of Hasse Walli's Afro period. When he returned from Senegal to Finland in June 1993, he thought the time might be now right to return to his 1960s musical roots, and the band Suuret Setelit was launched, playing rock and rhythm & blues. The gigs of Suuret Setelit were eagerly checked by a completely new generation of Hasse Walli fans. Suuret Setelit lasted until 1995, the year Walli also performed together with Remu Aaltonen, the last remaining member of the legendary 70s band Hurriganes
. Hasse Walli also played several Back to the 60s type of concerts with some his peers from that period such as Danny
; never forgetting his love of African music, either.
In recent years Walli has been touring with his current band Hasse Walli Power Trio. Additionally, he has worked with guitarist and singer Steve Webb, and they have released two albums together.
Also on the releases of Sammy Babitzin
, Freeman, Make Lievonen, Punainen Lanka, Juhani Aaltonen
.
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. His father Aarno Walli was a musician and bandleader, his mother Anne-Marie Strandberg a singer. Hasse Walli was about ten years old when he started playing drums. He drummed in various bands in early 1960s such as The Islanders, The Electric Five and Nameless. Gradually Walli switched from drums to electric guitar. After Nameless had split, Walli started as a solo guitarist in The Typhoons. The Typhoons split when its members had to join the obligatory military service.
In spring 1966 Walli can be said to have finally launched his professional musical career as guitarist when he started playing with Jormas
Jormas
Jormas was a Finnish band in the 1960s. They had previously appeared as the Beatmakers, but were renamed by their manager Jorma Weneskoski.- Singles discography :* Mr...
, a band which was extremely popular not only in Finland but in the rest of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
too. During the seven months Hasse Walli spent in Jormas, they toured expansively Finland, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Walli also appearing on the band's album and singles. Again, Jormas split too when its members had to join military service; Walli finding soon himself doing a brief stint in The Frankies of Johnny Liebkind. However, soon Hasse Walli became frustrated in having to play soft pop, when the rawer sounds of The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
and John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
's Bluesbreakers (which especially inspired Walli) started to make waves in the mid-60s rock scene.
With his friend Måns Groundstroem, Edward Vesala
Edward Vesala
Edward Vesala , born Martti Vesala, was a Finnish avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader and drummer....
(who was not to spend a lot of time in the band) and British expatriate Jim Pembroke
Jim Pembroke
James Francis Pembroke is the vocalist of Finnish progressive rock band Wigwam. A British expatriate, Pembroke had played with London group Taverners' Guild before arriving in Finland in 1965. He immediately found himself in some demand, gigging on an ad hoc basis with various lineups , until...
, Walli initiated a new band dedicated to this sound, which was baptized Blues Section
Blues Section
Blues Section are a Finnish rock music group. They started in 1967, formed around the vocalist Jim Pembroke, a British expatriate song-writer now living in Finland. The other members of the band were Eero Koivistoinen , Ronnie Österberg , Hasse Walli , and Måns Groundstroem...
, and which was to become a groudbreaking act in the whole Finnish rock scene. Another great inspiration to Blues Section was the Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
gig in May 1967 at Kulttuuritalo
Kulttuuritalo
Kulttuuritalo is a building in Alppila, Helsinki. The building was designed by Alvar Aalto, and is considered to be one of his main works.- The building :...
, Helsinki. Blues Section lasted until the late 1968, during which time Walli recorded with the band their seminal eponymous album, several singles, film music and other material later to be heard on various collection albums, and played over 150 live gigs. During this period Walli also played guitar in the jazz band Otto Donner Treatment, the composer-musician Henrik Otto Donner being the essential and extremely innovative producer figure behind Blues Section and their record label Love Records
Love Records
Love Records was a record label from Finland, which released 384 LPs, 253 C-cassettes, 347 singles and 24 EPs. They were a pioneering label in Finnish rock music but also released jazz, political songs, ethnic music and so on....
.
Following the split of Blues Section, Hasse Walli played for some time in the band of light pop singer Tapani Kansa
Tapani Kansa
Aarne Tapani Kansa is a Finnish singer.-Career:Tapani Kansa made his first record deal in 1967 and had a breakthrough the next year, with his version of the hit song Delilah, translated into Finnish. Tapani Kansa had established a career in singing at a very young age...
and as a bar musician at the restaurant Fennia. In summer 1969 Walli was planning a new band called Paradise with the former Jormas members Pepe Willberg, Kikke Bergholm and Matti Oiling, which never came into being, though Willberg later on used the name Paradise with his own band. On 31 August 1969 Hasse Walli was involved in a car accident which interrupted his career for a while after when he was returning from a gig. Walli's injured left hand was operated and the guitarist, forced to take a break from playing, spent some time in the bohemian circles of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, leading a vagrant life also as a street musician in French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
.
After returning to Finland, Hasse Walli played for a while with Kirka & D'Islanders, in a band called Zeus producing Vesa-Matti Loiri
Vesa-Matti Loiri
Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri is a Finnish actor, musician and comedian, best known for his role as Uuno Turhapuro, whom he portrayed in a total of 20 movies between the years 1973 and 2004....
's first album 4+20 and collaborating with jazz musician Make Lievonen. Hasse Walli Eternal Band was a jazzy project which worked under different line-ups from 1968 to 1971, playing among all at the first Ruisrock festival of Turku in 1970. Other jazz projects of this period where Walli contributed were Irina Milan & Tabu, Simo Big Band, Carita Holmström
Carita Holmström
Carita Elisabeth Holmström is a Finnish pianist, singer and songwriter. She has written and played jazz and classical music during her career...
's backing band, Paroni Paakkunainen & Unisono and German Heinz Sauer-Günther Lenz Quintet; furthemore, he played with Edward Vesala and Junnu Aaltonen, also at Afrikan Tähti band of pop singer Maarit. Walli's Punainen Lanka ensemble where Eija Ahvo and Harri Saksala sang and which explored folk music of Finland and America, was part of 70s leftist political song movement gaining strong foothold in Finland.
The band Piirpauke, combining folk music, ethnic sounds (later to be known as world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
) to progressive jazz rock, was one of Hasse Walli's best-known musical projects, starting in 1975. The major figure in the band was Sakari Kukko
Sakari Kukko
Sakari Kukko, Born on July 8, 1953, Kajaani, Finland, started his career in the early 1960s as a singer participating in several singing contests and performing in radio stations ,TV programs and other venues. At the age of 7, He began taking piano lessons. Soon after that he started to play also...
, a multi-instrumentalist playing saxophone, flute and keyboards, who had played with Walli in various ensembles, Kukko-Walli Quartet among them. The best known Piirpauke track is the hypnotic 'Konevitsan kirkonkellot' from the band's eponymous 1975 debut album, based on a traditional Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
n folk song. The band had an enormous live success and Hasse Walli stayed in Piirpauke about three years, later returning to the band for its tours in 1983 and 1994.
In the late 1970s Hasse Walli was active in ELMU, a society established in 1978 to propagate live music in a time when disco and recorded music were worryingly diminishing the working opportunities of musicians playing live. This was also the time when Walli got more and more interested in world music. His enthusiasism for reggae started in 1977 after having seen Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
performing live in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. Hasse Walli had visited a youth festival in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
with Punainen Lanka and Sakari Kukko, and he formed in 1979 Hasse Walli Projekti which played Cuban music and reggae rhythms.
The first eponymous solo album of Hasse Walli was released in 1981, the year when Walli was also chosen the Musician of the Year by Katso magazine. The next year, when he had his band Hasse Walli All Stars, saw the second album, called Sounds Afro! By this time Walli had seriously gotten into African music, and he dissolved the band and travelled in January 1982 to Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, the capital of Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, to explore local sounds such as Mbalax
Mbalax
Mbalax is the national popular dance music of Senegal and The Gambia. Mbalax is a fusion of popular Western music and dance such as jazz, soul, Latin, and rock blended with sabar, the traditional drumming and dance music of Senegal...
, Senegalese pop.
Jamming with local musicians at clubs, Walli practiced hard to get into the heart of this musical style quite differing from the Western genres of rock, blues and jazz he had already learned to master. Hasse Walli played with some musicians who had been performing with the legendary Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...
. On returning to Finland and enrichened by his experiences in Senegal, Walli started a band called Dakar Sound. Afro-Line was another band of Walli he started with Congolese expatriate Marie-Alphonse Liwata, releasing the albums Viva Africa (1983), Dakar Nights (1985) and Close to the Line (1987). During the years 1983-86 Hasse Walli shuttled between Gambia, Dakar and Finland.
By 1988 Walli felt he had finally learned enough to compose and arrange Mbalax music and start an all-African band for this (Walli's earlier Afro bands had mostly consisted of Finnish musicians), and he returned to Dakar for this purpose. Soon got together the new band, called Asamaan, with such musicians as Manel Diop, Yamar Thiam, Aladji Oumar Faye, Omar Cheikh Diene, Pape Sarr and Mousse Gueye. The first Asamaan album Modern Mbalax came out in 1989, receiving excellent reviews in world music circles. Walli and Asamaan played at folk music, jazz and rock festivals, doing also some street performances in Helsinki. Asamaan published two more albums, African Sky (1990) and, with a new line-up, Teranga (1993). Film director Kari Happonen documented Mbalax music scene in Dakar and Asamaan in his 1991 documentary Mbalax! Rytmin lähteillä.
Teranga marked the end of Hasse Walli's Afro period. When he returned from Senegal to Finland in June 1993, he thought the time might be now right to return to his 1960s musical roots, and the band Suuret Setelit was launched, playing rock and rhythm & blues. The gigs of Suuret Setelit were eagerly checked by a completely new generation of Hasse Walli fans. Suuret Setelit lasted until 1995, the year Walli also performed together with Remu Aaltonen, the last remaining member of the legendary 70s band Hurriganes
Hurriganes
Hurriganes is a Finnish rock band that was formed in the early 1970s. They were very popular in Finland in the 1970s and early '80s; they were also a popular live act in Sweden during this time. Their classic line-up consisted of Remu Aaltonen, Albert Järvinen and Cisse Häkkinen. What seems like...
. Hasse Walli also played several Back to the 60s type of concerts with some his peers from that period such as Danny
Ilkka Lipsanen
Ilkka Johannes Lipsanen , also known as Danny, is a Finnish singer and guitarist. He started his career with the band Islanders who released a couple of singles, among them Danny's first recording which was in English: East Virginia by Joan Baez in 1964...
; never forgetting his love of African music, either.
In recent years Walli has been touring with his current band Hasse Walli Power Trio. Additionally, he has worked with guitarist and singer Steve Webb, and they have released two albums together.
Discography
- Jormas: Jormas (1966, HMV)
- Blues Section: Blues Section (1968, Love Records)
- Blues Section: Some of Love (1969, Love Records)
- Piirpauke: Piirpauke (1975, Love Records)
- Piirpauke: Piirpauke 2 (1976, Love Records)
- Piirpauke: Live (1977, Love Records)
- Piirpauke: Ilahu illalla (1983, Love Records)
- Hasse Walli: Hasse Walli (1981, Kompass Records)
- Hasse Walli: Sounds Afro (1982, Kompass Records)
- Hasse Walli's Afro-Line: Viva Africa (1983, Sinetti Records)
- Hasse Walli's Afro-Line: Dakar Nights (1985, Digelius Music)
- Hasse Walli's Afro-Line: Close to the Line (1987, Digelius Music)
- Hasse Walli & Asamaan: Modern Mbalax (1989, Olarin Musiikki)
- Hasse Walli & Asamaan: African Sky (1990, Olarin Musiikki)
- Hasse Walli & Asamaan: Teranga (1993, Olarin Musiikki)
- Blues Section: Blues Section 2 (1995, Love Records)
- Piirpauke: Metamorphosis Live 1977-1995 (1995, Rockadillo)
- Hasse Walli: Kevyet Kengät (2000, HCD)
- Hasse Walli: Todellinen Live (2001, HCD)
- Hasse Walli & Steve Webb: Winners (2002, HCD)
- Hasse Walli: Live Crazy (2004, HCD)
- Hasse Walli & Steve Webb: Sweet Nina (2005, HCD)
- Piirpauke: Historia of Piirpauke Vol. 1 (2008, HCD)
As a guest discography
- HectorHectorIn Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and the...
: Kadonneet lapset - Hector: Linnut Linnut
- Kirka: Kirka
- Vesa-Matti Loiri: 4x20
- Sakari Kukko: Kajastus
- Eero KoivistoinenEero KoivistoinenEero Koivistoinen is a Finnish jazz musician and saxophone player, who started his career in the mid-1960s. Koivistoinen has worked as a musician, composer, arranger, conductor, producer and educator. He first heard jazz from the records his sailor brother had brought in from his travels...
: Valtakunta (1968, Otava)
Also on the releases of Sammy Babitzin
Sammy Babitzin
Aleksandr "Sammy" Babitzin was a Finnish popular music singer, the brother of Kirka.Babitzin started his professional career in a band called The Stealers. Its line-up also included Remu Aaltonen. Babitzin sang in the group of Leo Lindblom under the pseudonym "Sammy-boy".Sammy Babitzin released...
, Freeman, Make Lievonen, Punainen Lanka, Juhani Aaltonen
Juhani Aaltonen
Juhani Aaltonen is a Finnish jazz saxophonist and flautist.Born in Kouvola, Finland, he began playing professionally at the end of the 1950s. He played in a sextet led by Heikki Rosendahl during that time, and then studied flute performance at the Sibelius Academy and in the U.S. at the Berklee...
.