Halme Prospekt is the jazz group led by renowned saxophonist, flutist, and composer Heikki “Hepa” Halme, who is known for fusing elements from many different genres into his music. Combining blues, psychedelic rock, and other styles in an electro acoustic way, in recent years the band has begun to expand their repertoire beyond earlier boundaries by introducing the talented Togolese singer Queen Djenny Djella. This has already resulted in four singles and videos “Parlez Parlez”, “Bon Bon Bon”, “Mama Africa” and the latest “If You Think”, followed by a full album later in 2026.
The collaboration began during Halme’s residency in 2024 at the Finnish-African cultural center Villa Karo in Benin, where he and the singer met immediately founding a common frequency between them. Halme happened to have some leftover instrumentals with him from Halme Prospekt’s latest album, Prospektago, released in 2023, which which they tried out together right away with great success. This eventually led to their first joint track, “Parlez Parlez.” All the songs on the album are based on Halme’s earlier compositions.
Halme Prospekt has already a long history in collaborating open-mindedly with numerous musicians on his previous critically acclaimed masterpieces. But the new project, brimming with avant-garde jazz, rough psychedelic rock, and West African polyrhythms, could be called a kind of culmination never heard before in his long career. It also brings along a whole new kind of warmth, light, and lively energy to Halme’s free jazz improvisation, which has mostly been meditative and instrumental music in the past. Hopefully, the album will also introduce the band and Heikki Halme’s cosmopolitan music to a wider audience outside Finland, which way too many international music fans have previously missed out.
The lineup of Halme Prospekt has always included a bunch of experienced and respected musicians. Over the past fifteen years or so, the six-piece band has included Hepa Halme, drummer Alf “Affe” Forsman (Sielun Veljet, Krakatau, Tuomari Nurmio, and Viides Kolonna), guitarist Esa Onttonen, synthesizer wizard Arttu Tolonen (Giant Robot, Fat Beat Sound System, Black Audio, among others), bassist and flutist Tapani Varis, and renowned trumpeter Matti Riikonen (Edward Vesala Sound & Fury, Tapiola Big Band, among others), who passed away unexpectedly in the spring of 2021. To replace the latter, the band luckily found the reputed Eero Savela (Plutonium 74, Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators, Soul Captain Band, Bad Ass Brass Band, Astro Can Caravan) to reinforce the horn section. Savela is known for performing often with Erno Haukkala (Ernie Hawks, The Soul Investigators) in various ensembles under the name Baabelin Torvet (= ”Horns of Babylon”).
Hepa Halme is truly one of the legends in Finnish jazz and progressive rhythm music. His musical career spans five decades and includes numerous well-known Finnish bands from several different genres. These range from the punk bands Maukka Perusjätkä and Ratsia to the jazz and roots rock orchestra The Bullworkers, which pioneered the genre, and Finland’s first acid jazz / hip hop group, The Cool Sheiks. He is also one of the founders of Fat Beat Sound System, a pioneer in the field, and has collaborated extensively with numerous acts, including Tuomari Nurmio, Paleface, DJ Slow, Kauko Röyhkä, and J. Karjalainen. Halme was awarded a Finnish state arts pension in 2018, although he has continued to be creative ever since.
Text: Joonas Kervinen
