Hannes Mikael Waldemar "Hasse" Walli (born 10 February 1948) is a Finnish guitarist. His father

Aarno Walli Aarno is a Finnish masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Aarno Karhilo (1927–2008), Finnish diplomat. *Aarno Maliniemi (1892–1972), Finnish professor. *Aarno Pesonen (1886-1927), Finnish politician. *Aarno Raninen (1944� ...

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.

Professional career

In spring 1966 Walli launched his professional musical career as guitarist when he started playing with

Jormas Jormas was a Finland, Finnish Pop music, pop band in the 1960s. They had previously appeared as the Beatmakers, but were renamed by their manager Jorma Weneskoski. They were active from 1965 - 1968. Line up in 1965 was Raul Wikström (vocals), P ...

, a band which was extremely popular not only in Finland but in the rest of

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

too. During the seven months Hasse Walli spent in Jormas, they toured expansively Finland,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, 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 Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

. However, soon Hasse Walli became frustrated in having to play soft pop, when the rawer sounds of

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

and

John Mayall John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...

's Bluesbreakers (which especially inspired Walli) started to make waves in the mid-60s rock scene. With his friend

Måns Groundstroem Måns Ivar Åkesson "Måsse" Groundstroem rʊndström(born April 23, 1949) is a Finnish bass player, studio technician and music producer. He has recorded ca. 100 music albums and produced another 70 albums. Most of these albums were released by ...

Edward Vesala Edward Vesala (15 February 1945 – 4 December 1999), born Martti Vesala, was a Finnish avant-garde jazz drummer. Career Born in Mäntyharju, he began playing jazz and rock in the 1960s, in such bands as Blues Section and Apollo. In the 1970s ...

(who was not to spend a lot of time in the band) and British expatriate

Jim Pembroke James Francis Pembroke (27 January 1946 – 8 October 2021) was a British music producer, musician and the vocalist of the Finland, Finnish progressive rock band Wigwam (progressive rock band), Wigwam. Life and career Pembroke was born in Londo ...

, Walli initiated a new band dedicated to this sound, which was baptized

Blues Section Blues Section are a Finnish rock music group. They started in 1967, formed around the vocalist Jim Pembroke, a British expatriate songwriter now living in Finland. The other members of the band were Eero Koivistoinen (saxophone), Ronnie Österb ...

, and which was to become a groundbreaking act in the whole Finnish rock scene. Another great inspiration to Blues Section was the

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

gig in May 1967 at

Kulttuuritalo Kulttuuritalo (, ) is a building in Alppila, Helsinki, Finland. The building was designed by Alvar Aalto, and is considered to be one of his main works. The building The building combines a concert hall, an office building and a lecture-the ...

, 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 Henrik Otto Donner (16 November 1939 – 26 June 2013) was a Finnish composer, musician and all-round music personality. His musical styles varied from pop and rock music to jazz, electronic music and contemporary classical music. Donner's person ...

being the essential and extremely innovative producer figure behind Blues Section and their record label

Love Records Love Records was a record label from Finland established in 1966 by . It specialized in Finnish rock and also released jazz, leftist political songs, and ethnic music. Love released 384 LPs, 253 C- cassettes, 347 singles and 24 EPs. It wa ...

Following the split of Blues Section, Hasse Walli played for some time in the band of light pop singer

Tapani Kansa (9 March 1949 – 25 March 2025) was a Finnish singer. Life and career Born in Hamina, 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 ...

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 Pertti "Pepe" Willberg (formerly Toivo Pertti Uolevi Willberg, till 1955 Kaukonen; born 17 December 1946) is a Finns, Finnish singer, songwriter and guitarist. Biography Willberg was born in Turku and started his musical career in the beginnin ...

, 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 ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, leading a vagrant life also as a street musician in

French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

. After returning to Finland, Hasse Walli played for a while with

Kirka Kirill "Kirka" Babitzin (Russian '' Кирилл Бабицын'', 22 September 1950 – 31 January 2007) was a Finnish vocalist and musician. One of the most commercially successful artists from Finland, his career lasted from the late 1960s u ...

& D'Islanders, in a band called Zeus producing

Vesa-Matti Loiri Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (4 January 1945 – 10 August 2022) was 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. Loiri made a strong i ...

'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 Elisabeth Holmström (born 10 February 1954, in Helsinki) is a Finnish pianist, singer and songwriter. She has written and played jazz and classical music during her career. She also formed half of a duo, Carita & Marianne, with Marianne " ...

's backing band,

Paroni Paakkunainen Andrea Paroni (born 14 October 1989) is an Italian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in Chiava ...

& Unisono and German

Heinz Sauer Heinz Sauer (born December 25, 1932, Merseburg) is a German jazz saxophonist. Sauer was an autodidact on tenor saxophone and began his career playing locally around Frankfurt in the 1950s. He played for many years in Albert Mangelsdorff's ensem ...

- Günther Lenz Quintet; furthermore, he played with Edward Vesala and

Junnu Aaltonen Kharvas, also known as Junnu, or Ginnu, is an Indian milk pudding made from cow or buffalo colostrum Colostrum (, of unknown origin) is the first form of milk produced by the mammary glands of humans and other mammals immediately following de ...

, also at Afrikan Tähti band of pop singer Maarit. Walli's Punainen Lanka ensemble where

Eija Ahvo Eija is a Finnish female given name. Its nameday is the 19th of February. As of January 2013, there are more than 24,500 people registered in Finland with this name. There are also more than 1,200 people with this name in Sweden, but only twenty-ei ...

and

Harri Saksala Harri is a given name and a surname. Notable people with these names include: Given name *Harri Anne Smith, (born 1962), American Republican member of the Alabama Senate * Harri Eloranta (born 1963), Finnish biathlete *Harri Hänninen (born 196 ...

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 Piirpauke is a Finnish musical group combining free jazz, flamenco, mbalax, Arabesque, carnatic, romantic, modern, classical, humppa, impressionist, hindustani, salsa, Amharic, Lappjoik, Tibetan, Balkan, Karelian, Finnish, national romant ...

, combining folk music, ethnic sounds (later to be known as

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

) 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 Jyrki Sakari Kukko, (born 8 July 1953, Kajaani, Finland) is a Finnish musician.Rantala, Risto (main ed.): Who's who: Personal data about the current generation of Finns 2007. Helsinki: Otava, 2006. ISBN 951-1-20606-0. p.445. Career Kukko starte ...

, 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 "Konevitsan kirkonkellot" (English: "The Church Bells of Konevitsa") is a Karelian folk melody, best known as the 1975 recording of Finnish musical group Piirpauke. It repeats the chime of the church bells of the Konevsky Monastery (Konevitsan l ...

'' from the band's eponymous 1975 debut album, based on a traditional

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

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 Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

performing live in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Hasse Walli had visited a youth festival in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

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 ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, the capital of

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, to explore local sounds such as

Mbalax Mbalax (or mbalakh) is the urban dance music of Senegal, Mauritania and the Gambia. The musical style is rooted in the indigenous instrumental and vocal styles accompanied by polyrhythmic sabar drumming of the Wolof, a social identity that incl ...

, 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 (, ; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' described him as, "perhaps the m ...

. On returning to Finland and enriched 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 The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

, 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 Henry Olavi "Remu" Aaltonen (born 10 January 1948) is a Finnish drummer and singer. He is the lead musician of the band Hurriganes, but has also pursued a solo singing career. Early life Aaltonen was born in Helsinki. He was the oldest child in ...

, the last remaining member of the legendary 70s band

Hurriganes Hurriganes was a Finnish rock band that was formed in the early 1970s. They were very popular in Finland, Sweden and Estonia in the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as a popular live act in Sweden during this time. Their classic line-up cons ...

. Hasse Walli also played several Back to the 60s type of concerts with some his peers from that period such as

Danny Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to and short for the male name Daniel.🖾🖾 People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist * Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer * Danny Baker (born 1957), English j ...

; 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.

Trivia

Hasse Walli's younger brother was Petri Walli of

Kingston Wall Kingston Wall was a psychedelic/progressive rock group from Helsinki, Finland, originally formed in 1987. Influenced by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, the group combined eastern themes, mysticism and vivid psychedelia w ...

Discography

* Jormas: ''Jormas'' (1966, HMV) * Blues Section: ''Blues Section'' (1968,

) * 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) * Hasse Walli & Zeus: ''Pop-Liisa 16'' (2025, Svart Records)

As a guest discography

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

: Kadonneet lapset * Hector: Linnut Linnut * Kirka: Kirka * Vesa-Matti Loiri: 4x20 * Sakari Kukko: Kajastus *

Eero Koivistoinen Eero Koivistoinen (born 13 January 1946, in Helsinki) 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 firs ...

: Valtakunta (1968, Otava) Also on the releases of

Sammy Babitzin Aleksandr "Sammy" Babitzin (11 July 1948 – 29 April 1973) was a Finnish popular music singer, the brother of Kirka and Muska. Babitzin was born into a Russian family in Helsinki, and he was of partial German-Russian descent through his mot ...

, Freeman, Make Lievonen, Punainen Lanka,

Juhani Aaltonen Juhani Aaltonen (born December 12, 1935) is a Finnish jazz saxophonist and flautist. Born in Kouvola, Finland, he studied at Sibelius Academy and Berklee College of Music. He began playing professionally at the end of the 1950s. He played in a ...

References

Hasse Walli & Appe Vanajas: ''Hehkuva kitara'' (Helsinki: Otava 1996, )

External links

*
Historien om klubb Filips del 1. (The history of club Filips pt. 1)Historien om klubb Filips del 2. (The history of club Filips pt. 2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walli, Hasse 1948 births Living people Musicians from Helsinki Finnish male guitarists Finnish expatriates Expatriates in Senegal 20th-century Finnish male musicians Finnish drummers