In 1967 Hasse made his breakthrough as the first Hendrix-influenced improvising guitarist in Finland, with the band BLUES SECTION. At the same time he was also involved in several cross-over bands with jazz musicians.
In 1969 a serious car accident broke Hasse's left arm, and forced him out of playing for some years, but a second surgery in 1973 restored his playing ability.
In 1974 Hasse was a founding member of PIIRPAUKE, the first Finnish band to modernize folk music from Finland as well as other countries. The style of music, which nowadays would be called "world music", gained PIIRPAUKE wide popularity. Extensive tours followed in Scandinavia, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. In 1975 the band recorded its first LP ("Piirpauke", Love Records, LRCD 148), and Hasse's solo on the kantele-tune Konevitsan Kirkonkellot (Church Bells of Konevitsa) pushed the record into the TOP 10. This solo is considered a classic in Finnish guitar music, and the track has since been used in several feature films and documentaries.
In 1977 Hasse started leading his own bands, and began studying Jamaican, Cuban and African music. From 1982 onwards Hasse spent ten winters in Senegal, West Africa, studying and playing with local musicians, including Youssou N'Dour. Hasse was the first musician to bring modern urban African music to Finland and Estonia, and his 8-piece Senegalese band HASSE WALLI & ASAMAAN toured Finland and Sweden widely between 1988-92, and also played concerts in London.
In 1993 Hasse also returned to his blues-, rock- and Hendrix-roots and formed his "Power Trio". He has also led a 7-piece band in Tallinn, Estonia, with local young musicians.
In 2002 Hasse returned to Dakar, Senegal, and formed a brand-new formation of "HASSE WALLI & ASAMAAN", to celebrate his 40-years anniversary as a performing artist. Hasse has performed worldwide in more than 20 countries and has made radio programs on African music for Finland's Radio YLE and Radio City Helsinki.
Pioneering work, and several "firsts":
Hasse was the first guitarist in his country to do real improvisation on stage in 1967, with his band Blues Section, and was first in presenting modern blues and rock guitar sound with harmonic distortion.
Blues Section's second single, "Hey Hey Hey" (1967), had the first guitar feedback ever recorded in Finland. Blues Section's first LP album was the first of it's kind in Finland to be totally based on the member's own song writing, with most songs written by singer Jim Pembroke (later of Wigwam fame) and Hasse.
In 1974, with the ground breaking group Piirpauke, Hasse developed a completely new style of guitar playing, which fitted the folk music base of the band. It was modal in nature, based mostly on so called natural scales, that are found in folk music of many cultures all over the world, as well as in European church music.
In 1977, having witnessed Bob Marley and The Wailer's concert in Stockholm, Sweden, Hasse was rapidly teaching Reggae rhythms to Finnish musicians. He soon formed the first band in his country that played real "One Drop Reggae" style on a professional level.
In 1978 Hasse was in Havanna, Cuba, on a two week series of festival performances. There he was overwhelmed by the Afro-Cuban rhythms, jammed with several local bands, and became the first Finnish electric guitarist to seriously study Cuban music.
Having heard modern urban music from Senegal in 1979 for the first time, Hasse embarked on a long journey into West African music. Having studied the music at home during three years from records and cassettes, Hasse finally traveled to Dakar for the first time in January 1982. There he played with the local bands practically every night. The bands included Youssou Ndour & Super Etoile de Dakar, Super Diamono, Xalam 2, Baobab and Number One de Dakar.
Having studied West African music during his numerous trips to Senegal and Gambia during 6 years, Hasse finally formed his professional Mbalax band, "Hasse Walli & Asamaan" in 1988. Behind him he had 9 years of studying these tricky polyrhythms, and now he brought his new band to Europe, being the first musician to bring real virtuoso urban Senegalese music to Finland.
Hasse Walli is known to be the first white musician to master the tricky polyrhythmic structures of the modern Senegalese Mbalax style of music, which is based on the traditional drumming of the Wolofs.
Hasse's skills includes mastering the local styles of lead and rhythm guitars, as well as composing and arranging the music. He has also brought new harmonies and structures that were not present in Mbalax music before.
Hasse's guitar solo on the studio version of the song Diamono Neexna (on the 1988 LP "Modern Mbalax", now released on the CD "The Best of Hasse Walli & Asamaan") is the first real rock style guitar solo, complete with harmonic distortion etc, ever recorded in an Mbalax environment.
Hasse Walli was the first guitarist to introduce Be Bop Jazz style passages and guitar feedback into Mbalax music, on his song Crazy Rap (on the 1989 "African Sky" CD, now released on "The Best of..." CD).
Since 2000 Hasse has worked as an independent record producer. His latest releases, "The Best of Hasse Walli & Asamaan" (HCD-06) and "Historia of Piirpauke, Vol 1" (HCD-07), have been released in February 2008.
iTunes download and CD sales by internet will shortly be available at Hasse's site www.hassewalli.com . There You can also find new info about events, at the NEWS section. The next releases, "The Live Collection Nr 1" DVD and Hasse's new studio CD will be out in September 2009.
For more information on Hasse Walli please see the book "Hasse Walli ja Appe Vanajas - Hehkuva Kitara" published in 1996 by Otava in Finnish (ISBN: 951-1-13836-7)
Hasse Walli's home page
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