Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. (born December 23, 1940,
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
,
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
guitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, best known for his work with
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
and
Hot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
.
Biography
Born to a
Finnish AmericanFinnish Americans are Americans of Finnish descent, who currently number about 700,000.-History:Some Finns, like the ancestors of John Morton, came to the Swedish colony of New Sweden, that existed in mid-17th century....
father and an American born Russian Jewish mother, Kaukonen was a founding member of the popular psychedelic San Francisco-based band
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
, which scored two Top 10 radio hits in 1967 with "
Somebody to Love"Somebody to Love" is a rock song that was written by Darby Slick and originally recorded by 1960s folk rock band The Great Society and later by the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane...
" and "
White Rabbit"White Rabbit" is a song from Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It was released as a single and became the band's second top ten success, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100...
."
Kaukonen learned to play guitar as a teenager in Washington, D.C., but before moving to the D.C. area, Jorma and family lived in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and other locales as he followed his father's career from assignment to assignment before returning to the place of his birth. As a teenager in Washington he and future
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
bassist
Jack CasadyJack Casady , is an American musician considered one of the foremost bass guitarists of the rock music era and best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane. First playing as a lead guitarist with the Washington D.C...
(who at the time played six-string guitar) formed a band named The Triumphs. Kaukonen departed Washington for studies at
Antioch CollegeAntioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
where friend Ian Buchanan taught him fingerstyle guitar playing. Buchanan also introduced Kaukonen to the music of
Reverend Gary DavisReverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...
, whose songs have remained important parts of Kaukonen's repertoire throughout his career.
In 1962 Kaukonen moved to the
San Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
and enrolled in
Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
. During this time he taught guitar lessons at Benner Music Company in
San JoseSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. As a self-described
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
purist, Kaukonen never had any ambition to play in a rock band. He played as a solo act in coffee houses and can be heard accompanying a young
Janis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
on acoustic guitar on an historic 1964 recording (known as "The Typewriter Tapes" because of the obtrusive sound of Kaukonen's first wife Margareta typing in the background). Invited to attend a
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
rehearsal by founding member
Paul KantnerPaul Lorin Kantner is an American rock musician, known for co-founding the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off band Jefferson Starship.- Overview :...
, Kaukonen found his imagination excited by the arsenal of effects available to electric guitar and later said, "I was sucked in by technology."
Jefferson Airplane
As a fingerstyle guitarist, his
electric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
work was uniquely distinctive and thus widely emulated by other Bay Area guitarists. Notable work with Jefferson Airplane includes "Greasy Heart", "If You Feel", "Spare Chaynge", "Hey Frederick" (which culminates in an extended lead guitar duet with himself), "
Wooden Ships"Wooden Ships" is a rock song written and composed by David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Paul Kantner in the late 1960s. The song was written and composed in Florida on Crosby's boat...
", and his original composition, "Feel So Good".
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
named Kaukonen the 54th greatest rock guitarist of all time and 16th greatest acoustic guitarist.
Though never a prolific singer and songwriter during his Airplane tenure, Kaukonen contributed some distinctive material. On the band's second album,
Surrealistic PillowSurrealistic Pillow is the second album by American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in February 1967.Original drummer Alexander 'Skip' Spence had left the band in mid-1966, replaced by a jazz drummer from Los Angeles, Spencer Dryden, a nephew of Charlie Chaplin. New lead vocalist...
, his song "
Embryonic JourneyThe acoustic instrumental Embryonic Journey composed by Jefferson Airplane / Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen originally appeared as the ninth track on Jefferson Airplane's second album Surrealistic Pillow but has been often anthologized, and multiple takes were released as an album also entitled...
" showcased his fingerstyle acoustic guitar virtuosity. On the next album,
After Bathing at Baxter'sAfter Bathing at Baxter's was released in 1967 and is the third album by the San Francisco rock band Jefferson Airplane.Unlike Surrealistic Pillow, released earlier the same year, After Bathing at Baxter's is classified as psychedelic rock because it eschews the more commercial type pop songs, such...
, his sound had a harder edge inspired by
Mike BloomfieldMichael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
of the
Paul Butterfield Blues BandPaul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
,
CreamCream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
, and other touring groups that performed in San Francisco. These stylistic changes are prominent in the acid rocker, "The Last Wall of the Castle," as well as the long (9:12) instrumental, "Spare Chaynge", cowritten with bandmates bassist Jack Casady and drummer
Spencer DrydenSpencer Dryden was an American musician best known as the longest-serving drummer for Jefferson Airplane. He also played with New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Dinosaurs, and The Peanut Butter Conspiracy.-Early life:...
. The improvisation marking "Spare Chaynge" is also present in the free-form extended jams, "Thing" and "Bear Melt," both live instrumentals recorded in 1968. Kaukonen insists, however, in the liner notes of the Live at the Fillmore East album, that these jams were not chaotic "free for alls" but were "complex rehearsed arrangements." Two songs that were later to become Hot Tuna
signature tunesA signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
, "
Rock Me Baby"Rock Me Baby" is a blues standard that has become one of the most recorded blues songs of all time. When B.B. King released "Rock Me Baby" in 1964, it became a Top 40 hit reaching #34 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song is based on earlier blues songs and has been interpreted and recorded by a...
" and "
Good Shepherd"Good Shepherd" is a traditional song, most known as recorded by Jefferson Airplane on their 1969 album Volunteers. It was arranged and sung by the group's guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, who described their interpretation of it as psychedelic folk-rock....
", a
gospel balladGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, were also recorded during the period 1968–1969.
Original compositions by Kaukonen on the 1971 Jefferson Airplane album,
Bark-Personnel:* Jack Casady – bass* Joey Covington – percussion, drums, vocals* Paul Kantner – guitar, vocals* Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, vocals* Grace Slick – piano, vocals- Additional personnel :...
are an instrumental, "Wild Turkey," "Feel So Good," and the acoustic autobiographical "Third Week in the Chelsea," detailing his feelings about the disintegration of the band.
Hot Tuna and solo career
Hot Tuna
In 1969–70, Kaukonen and Jack Casady formed
Hot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
, a spinoff group that allowed them to play as long as they liked. An early incarnation of
Hot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
included Jefferson Airplane vocalist
Marty BalinMarty Balin is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.-Early life:Martyn Buchwald was born in Cincinnati, Ohio...
and featured
Joey CovingtonJoseph "Joey" Edward Covington is a US drummer, best known for his involvements with Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane.-Brief biography:...
on drums and vocals. This grouping came to an end after an unsuccessful recording jaunt to Jamaica, the sessions of which have never been released. Pared down to Kaukonen and Casady,
Hot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
lived on as a vehicle for Kaukonen to show off his Piedmont style acoustic
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
fingerpicking skills. The self titled first album was all acoustic and recorded live. With the dissolution of
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
in 1972,
Hot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
went electric, with Airplane fiddler
Papa John CreachPapa John Creach played for Jefferson Airplane , Hot Tuna, Jefferson Starship, Jefferson Starship - The Next Generation, the San Francisco All-Stars , The Dinosaurs , and Steve Taylor...
joining for the next two albums.
Hot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
scored an FM hit with "Ja Da (Keep On Truckin')" from their third (and first studio) album,
Burgers-Personnel:*Jorma Kaukonen – guitars, lead vocals*Jack Casady – bass, vocals, eyebrow*Papa John Creach – violin, vocals*Sammy Piazza – drums, tympani, other percussion, vocals-Additional personnel:...
. At this time, Kaukonen's songwriting began to dominate, as further evidenced by the next album,
The Phosphorescent Rat-Personnel:*Jorma Kaukonen – vocals, guitars*Jack Casady – electric bass, bass balalaika*Sammy Piazza – drums, spoons, percussion-Additional Personnel:*Tom Salisbury – conductor of strings and woodwinds on "Corners Without Exits" and "Soliloquy for 2"...
, which only featured one cover song. Beginning with their fifth album,
America's ChoiceAmerica's Choice was the fifth album by the American blues rock band Hot Tuna, recorded in 1974 and released the following year. The first of the "Rampage" trilogy albums recorded by the now power trio, it marked a major shift in musical direction by the group...
(1974), the addition of drummer Bob Steeler encouraged a rise in volume and a change of band personality —a rampaging,
CreamCream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
-like rock with often quasi-mystical lyrics by Kaukonen. During this period, the
power trioA power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
was known for its very long live sets and instrumental jamming.
Solo Career
In 1974, Kaukonen recorded the first and most successful of several solo albums,
QuahQuah is the first solo album by Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane. The album was recorded with Tom Hobson. The initial plan was to have side-A be Kaukonen and side-B be Hobson. However, RCA felt that Hobson's recordings would not be accepted by the public...
, together with Tom Hobson. Produced by Jack Casady, and featuring (somewhat surprisingly) string overdubs on some tracks, this album contained some of Kaukonen's most deft fingerpicking work, especially on "Hamar Promenade", "Blue Prelude", "Genesis" and " Flying Clouds". The curious picture that adorns Quahs cover is today on display at Donkey Coffee and Espresso, a coffee shop in
Athens, OhioAthens is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Athens County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Hocking River in the southeastern part of Ohio. A historic college town, Athens is home to Ohio University and is the principal city of the Athens, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...
.
Kaukonen toured vigorously throughout the 1970s in both the United States and Europe, but with Hot Tuna's break up in 1978, the first phase of the band's career ended. Casady left to form the new wave band SVT, while Kaukonen released his second solo album,
JormaJorma is the second solo album by Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane. Hot Tuna had stopped touring in 1977 and Jack Casady had moved on to the band SVT. Bill Thompson and the staff that had managed Hot Tuna and still managed Jefferson Starship in 1979 continued to manage Kaukonen....
, a mix of electric guitar and acoustic fingerstyle in 1979. Meanwhile, he had formed the band "Vital Parts."
Vital Parts
Vital Parts featured bassist Denny DeGorio, who had played in a San Francisco band called
The OffsThe Offs are a punk/ska band from San Francisco, started by guitarist Billy Hawk and singer Don Vinil, and later joined by former Hot Tuna drummer Bob Steeler and a rotation of horn players including Bob Roberts, Richard Edson and Roland Young...
with ex-Hot Tuna drummer Bob Steeler. Kaukonen, experimenting with a new image, not only cut his hair but dyed it purple then bright orange, and had extensive
tattooA tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s adorn his body, back and arms. The album
Barbeque KingBarbeque King is an album that Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane recorded in 1980 with his then-current band Vital Parts. It was the last album Kaukonen recorded on the RCA label.-Side A:...
was released in 1980. Kaukonen's traditional fan base did not warm to this new, perceived to be "punk" image, and sales of the album were so disappointing that Jorma was soon dropped from
RCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
.
He continued playing as a solo artist throughout the 1980s at such venues as
The Chestnut Cabaretthumb|[[Exene Cervenka]] performing with [[X |X]] at the Chestnut Cabaret in 1986The Chestnut Cabaret was a nightclub in Philadelphia...
in Philadelphia, The Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey and in Port Chester, New York. As in his Hot Tuna days, he played very long sets, usually beginning with an hour-long acoustic set followed by a long intermission and then a two hour electric set, sometimes accompanied by bass and drums. Hot Tuna themselves reformed in the late 1980s. At a 1988 Hot Tuna performance at the Fillmore Auditorium, Kaukonen surprised fellow Airplane alumnus
Paul KantnerPaul Lorin Kantner is an American rock musician, known for co-founding the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off band Jefferson Starship.- Overview :...
, who was sitting in, with a surprise appearance by his estranged lover
Grace SlickGrace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
; the success of this performance helped to pave the way for a
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
reunion tour and record in 1989.
Notable Projects
In 1984, Kaukonen appeared on
Robert Hunter'sRobert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
Amagamalin Street. This was the third album released by Relix Records, a label, founded by Les Kippel, that specialized in bands from the
San Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. Relix also released
SplashdownSplashdown is a Hot Tuna album released in 1984 containing the tracks from a previously unreleased live acoustic performance that had been played on the short-lived radio station WQIV in the mid-1970s...
, featuring a rare performance by Hot Tuna on WQIV, a now-defunct radio station in New York. Kippel was instrumental in reuniting Kaukonen and Casady in 1985 for a Hot Tuna theater tour. Relix Records remained Hot Tuna's record label until 2000, and also released
Classic Hot Tuna AcousticClassic Hot Tuna Acoustic is a Hot Tuna album released in 1996 and is an expansion of the A-side of the previous vinyl release Historic Live Tuna. The B-side of the previous release was expanded as Classic Hot Tuna Electric and released at the same time as this album...
,
Classic Hot Tuna ElectricClassic Hot Tuna Electric is a Hot Tuna album released in 1996 and is an expansion of the B-side of the previous vinyl release Historic Live Tuna. The A-side of the previous release was expanded as Classic Hot Tuna Acoustic and released at the same time as this album...
,
Live at SweetwaterLive at Sweetwater is a live Hot Tuna album recorded in 1992 at Mill Valley, CA. It was their first new recording made for Relix Records, although they had previously released older performances with Relix...
, and
Live at Sweetwater TwoLive at Sweetwater Two is a live Hot Tuna album recorded at the same time as the album, Live at Sweetwater, but contains no tracks from the previous release. The live performances feature Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, blues-singer Maria Muldaur, and keyboardist Pete Sears. Also included is the...
.
Two notable projects featuring Kaukonen were
David CrosbyDavid Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
's debut solo album
If I Could Only Remember My Name-External links:*...
, on
AtlanticAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
(1971) and
Warren ZevonWarren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
's
Transverse CityTransverse City is an album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, released in 1989.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Warren Zevon, except where indicated.#"Transverse City" – 4:19#"Run Straight Down" – 4:05...
on
VirginVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in 1989. In 1993, he collaborated with ex-
Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
keyboardist
Tom ConstantenTom Constanten is an American keyboardist, best known for playing with the Grateful Dead from 1968 to 1970.-Biography:...
in recording numerous arrangements of "Embryonic Journey". The resulting tracks were released as
Embryonic JourneyEmbryonic Journey is an album by Jorma Kaukonen, the lead guitarist for Jefferson Airplane / Hot Tuna, and one-time Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten, consisting of the studio sessions for the recording of Kaukonen's instrumental Embryonic Journey for the Constanten album Morning Dew...
, the album, in 1994 on the Relix label. In 1999, he played several gigs with
Phil Lesh and FriendsPhil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen...
. In 2000, he appeared with jam band
Widespread PanicWidespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
during their summer tour.
Current Projects
With his wife Vanessa, Kaukonen currently owns and operates the Fur Peace Ranch, a 119 acre (0.48157634 km²) music and guitar camp in the hills of southeast
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, north of
PomeroyPomeroy is a village in and the county seat of Meigs County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,966 at the 2000 census. During the late 19th century, Pomeroy was an important producer of coal and salt...
; complete with a 32 track studio. He is currently under contract as a solo artist to
Red House RecordsRed House Records is an American independent record label specializing in folk music and is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.The label was originally created in 1981 by Greg Brown as a method to distribute his own music, and is named for a farmhouse in Iowa where he was living...
and still records and tours with
Jack CasadyJack Casady , is an American musician considered one of the foremost bass guitarists of the rock music era and best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane. First playing as a lead guitarist with the Washington D.C...
and other friends such as
Barry MitterhoffBarry Mitterhoff is a musician who plays mandolin. He is a former member of Skyline and Silk City, and current member of Hot Tuna.Mitterhoff is also known for contributing to movie soundtracks, including You've Got Mail and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. His work on the latter film, unfortunately,...
as Hot Tuna. His 2002 album
Blue Country HeartBlue Country Heart is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in June, 2002. It was his first album on a major label since 1980's Barbeque King. Kaukonen didn't write any new compositions for the album, and instead played mostly country-blues cover songs...
, also released as a 5.1 single layer
SACDSuper Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
, was widely acclaimed by critics as one of the definitive examples of American "Depression Era " music and features Kaukonen backed by an all-star Nashville
bluegrassBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band. The album was nominated for a
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
.
Recent solo albums include
Stars in My CrownStars in My Crown is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in 2007 on Red House Records. Kaukonen returned to song-writing with this album, and again incorporated the work of several contributing musicians including Barry Mitterhof, who had been playing mandolin with Hot Tuna since 2002...
(2007) and
River of TimeRiver of Time is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in 2009 and his 2nd on Red House Records. The album reached #21 on the Billboard "Top Heatseekers" chart, and has received generally favorable reviews. All new recordings make up the album with a combination of songs that had been previously...
(2009).
Equipment
As a member of Jefferson Airplane, Kaukonen's primary guitar was a Gibson ES-345, noted for the visible Varitone dial on his guitar and the signature 345 logo on the headstock. Jorma presently endorses Martin Guitars. In 2010, Martin Guitars released the Martin M-30 Jorma Kaukonen Custom Artist Edition. This guitar was designed by Jorma using ideas from 2 Martin guitars that he had previously been playing - a David Bromberg Custom Artist Edition and an M-5 prototype.
Jorma also uses and endorses the Fishman Loudbox amp.
Solo discography
Listed below are solo albums by Jorma Kaukonen. See also
Jefferson Airplane discographyThe following is a comprehensive discography of Jefferson Airplane, an American rock band which formed in San Francisco in 1965.-Studio albums:-Compilation and live albums:-Authorized UK Releases:* Live at the Monterey Festival...
and
Hot TunaHot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
.
- Quah
Quah is the first solo album by Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane. The album was recorded with Tom Hobson. The initial plan was to have side-A be Kaukonen and side-B be Hobson. However, RCA felt that Hobson's recordings would not be accepted by the public...
(1974)
- Jorma
Jorma is the second solo album by Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane. Hot Tuna had stopped touring in 1977 and Jack Casady had moved on to the band SVT. Bill Thompson and the staff that had managed Hot Tuna and still managed Jefferson Starship in 1979 continued to manage Kaukonen....
(1979)
- Barbeque King
Barbeque King is an album that Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane recorded in 1980 with his then-current band Vital Parts. It was the last album Kaukonen recorded on the RCA label.-Side A:...
(1981)
- Magic
Magic is a live Jorma Kaukonen album containing performances of acoustic songs from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna albums recorded during his solo tour of 1984. After a brief reunion tour in 1983 with Hot Tuna, Jorma had continued to play solo and eventually landed a contract with Relix Records...
(1985)
- Too Hot to Handle
Too Hot to Handle is a Jorma Kaukonen acoustic solo album released on Relix Records. "Too Many Years" and "Ice Age" were later re-recorded with Jefferson Airplane using electric instruments and appeared on the Jefferson Airplane reunion album...
(1985)
- Embryonic Journey
Embryonic Journey is an album by Jorma Kaukonen, the lead guitarist for Jefferson Airplane / Hot Tuna, and one-time Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten, consisting of the studio sessions for the recording of Kaukonen's instrumental Embryonic Journey for the Constanten album Morning Dew...
(1994)
- Magic Two
Magic Two is an expanded re-release of the live Jorma Kaukonen album, Magic, containing performances of acoustic songs recorded during his solo tour of 1984...
(1995)
- The Land of Heroes
The Land of Heroes is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album recorded and released in 1995. It was his first new solo album since the mid 1980s. The album incorporated the work of several other musicians, including Michael Falzarano, who had joined Hot Tuna and produced remastered versions of Kaukonen's...
(1995)
- Christmas
Christmas is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in July 1996. It was the only themed album Kaukonen recorded and was a departure from the usual Rev. Gary Davis influenced tunes...
(1996)
- Too Many Years
Too Many Years is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in August, 1998. It was his last studio album on Relix Records. Michael Falzarano returned to play guitar and to help produce as he did on the previous Kaukonen solo album...
(1998)
- Jorma Kaukonen Trio Live
Jorma Kaukonen Trio Live is a live album taken from performances from Jorma Kaukonen's 1999 solo tour, and his last album for Relix Records. Performing with Kaukonen were Michael Falzarano and Pete Sears who had both been present on his previous solo album, Too Many Years, and had performed with...
(2001)
- Blue Country Heart
Blue Country Heart is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in June, 2002. It was his first album on a major label since 1980's Barbeque King. Kaukonen didn't write any new compositions for the album, and instead played mostly country-blues cover songs...
(2002)
- Stars in My Crown
Stars in My Crown is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in 2007 on Red House Records. Kaukonen returned to song-writing with this album, and again incorporated the work of several contributing musicians including Barry Mitterhof, who had been playing mandolin with Hot Tuna since 2002...
(2007)
- River of Time
River of Time is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in 2009 and his 2nd on Red House Records. The album reached #21 on the Billboard "Top Heatseekers" chart, and has received generally favorable reviews. All new recordings make up the album with a combination of songs that had been previously...
(2009)
Other contributions
- Live at the World Café: Vol. 15 - Handcrafted
Live at the World Café: Handcrafted is the fifteenth volume in an ongoing series of compilation albums showcasing artists that appear on the radio program "World Cafe". "World Cafe" is a two-hour long nationally syndicated music program that originates from WXPN, a non-commercial station on the...
(2002, World Café) - "Blue Railroad Train"
External links