A bunch of early Jorma Kaukonen recordings get a Black Friday release (November 28). Wabash Avenue, named after the address he was living at in San Jose, contains material that he laid down in 1965 on a reel to reel recorder. It will be available as a 2LP (2000 copies) and CD (1000 copies). And yes, Embryonic Journey is the instrumental that would be revisited for inclusion up on Jefferson Airplane's second album Surrealistic Pillow.
Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady were already playing together before they joined Jefferson Airplane. Twenty-six songs from those early recordings will be available on the Reno Road: Unreleased tracks from the '60's 2LP for Black Friday (November 29). 2000 copies on gold nugget vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.
Tracks:Trouble In Mind | True Religion | Keep On Truckin | Five Foot Two| A Dime For Beer | Another Man Done Gone | Talkin Blues | 9 Pound Hammer | Blues In E Rock n Roll Key | West Coast Blues | Uncle Sam Blues | Death Don't Have No Mercy | Candy Man | On The Rocky Mountain Line | Union Band | Whinin Boy Blues | Hesitation Blues | Keep Your Lamps Trimmed | Down and Out | Bottle Up and Go | That'll Never Happen No More | Great Day Since I Been Gone | Women Used To Drive Me Craz | I Belong To The Band | Candy Man | How Long Blues
Acoustic guitar maestros Jorma Kaukonen & John Hurlbut will their new album One More Lifetime for Record Store Day (April 20), featuring eight down home tracks. Available on LP and CD (500 copies).
Tracks:
Janis Joplin and Jorma Kaukonen had a tape rolling when they worked their way through a bunch of folk and blues songs at Jorma's house in Santa Clara on June 25, 1964. It will be released vinyl (3500 copies) on Black Friday (November 25). This lo-fi tape, captured on Sony TC-100 tape recorder, has made the rounds for quite some time, but now gets an official release. The typewriter that can be heard in the background was used by Jorma's then wife Margaret, who was writing a letter to her parents.
It was never an option to cancel the 40th Annual John Lennon Tribute. The event will be streamed for free starting on October 9 at 7pm ET, what wwould have been his 80th birtday, through Oct. 12 at 12 a.m. ET. Confirmed artists: Patti Smith, Natalie Merchant, Rosanne CashJorma Kaukonen, Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Martin Sexton, Joan Osborne, Bettye LaVette, Shelby Lynne, Marc Cohn, Willie Nile, Music Director Rich Pagano and Blac Rabbit.
JamBase has launched the massive JamBase Live Video Archive, which claims to offer access to 100,000 free streaming concert videos. The filter options are pretty good.
Jorma Kaukonen Live from Fur Peace Ranch - August 22, 2020:
Gov’t Mule @ Rockpalast 2017, Leverkusen, Germany - November 2017
Hot Tuna: will be perform at Fur Peace Ranch in Pomeroy, Ohio on March 23. The show will be available as a free webcast. The show is set to kick off at 8 p.m. ET. Cahnges are that Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady will welcome some guest players.
Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen has written his autobiography. In Been So Long: My Life and Music he looks back on the Jefferson Airplane, jamming with Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan, and his longtime work in Hot Tuna with Jack Casady. The latter penned the afterword. Former Airplane singer Grace Slick contributed the foreword. The hardback edition comes with a CD of live music.
HCTF review of Ain't In No Hurry.
Hot Tuna (Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady) will be joined by guitar virtuoso Steve Kimock for a Summer tour.
Live dates:
2015 was a rather good year for music. HCTF lists the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come.
Today: countdown from number 10 to 6. Go here for 5-1 | 15-11 | 20-16.
10 Jorma Kaukonen: Ain't In No Hurry
There are fine acoustic pickers, there are damned fine acoustic pickers and there is this guy.
(...) like a great wine: he gets better with age. He celebrated his 74th birthday in December, but retirement isn't part of his vocabulary. His new album (...) sees him once more exploring well known songs from the folk and country canons plus a healthy dose of originals. He is one of the greatest acoustic guitar players this side of Betelgeuse, with a finger picking style that is totally at ease and nearly impossible to replicate.
9 Zombie Garden Club: Zombie Garden Club
Johnny Douglas for all your garage band needs and analog equipment fix.
Singing about girls, cars, having the blues and craving for karma may be not very original, but it makes killer jukebox material. He is a gear head using vintage amps and keyboards that are a bitch to maintain, but emanating a warm sound that all the programming geeks in Silicon Valley haven't been able to replicate in a convincing manner.
8 Jumble Hole Clough: A List Of Things That Never Happened
One-man project courtesy of Colin Robinson, friendly mad scientist and BBC Radiophonic Workshop fan, churning out a wealth of highly original musical wanderings.
Via a freaky visit to Budapest he goes pastoral for A sundial in the rain, thinking about death ("it's not a teardrop, it's a coffin"). Recurring Bathysiderodromophobia earns the top spot. Driven by a soft Kraftwerk meets Gary Numan rhythm track, Robinson builds a multi-faceted sculpture of repeating, twisted musical themes. If Gaudi had been a composer he would have been writing stuff like this.
7 Mr. Fantastical: Born To Boogie Born To Die
Jason Corman is a muso in disguise for all your party and music geeks needs.
His new album (..) has its fair share off stomping good time music, but spin one of the smart instrumentals and be prepared to pick up your jaw from the floor. The acoustic Haunted Potato Shed wouldn't have been out of place on Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas soundtrack and the fast bits during the heavy Jaapan Funk will be dissected by guitar geeks. AARPeggio is another showcase of his chops and then some.
6 Janet Feder: T H I S C L O S E
Be prepared for prepared guitar. Accessible avant-garde guitar excursions that dig deep.
Her latest album (...) is a sonic expedition, playing instruments in an unorthodox fashion, focusing on textures and melody as equals. Feder picks her single notes carefully, sprinkling them on top of drone like tapestries (No Apology() or striking up a conversation with a jazzy piano (You As Part Of A Whole). The sparse, mostly acoustic She Sleeps With The Sky is a 101 for a complex composition dressing up as deceptively simple showcase.
Jorma Kaukonen is a like a great wine: he gets better with age. He celebrated his 74th birthday in December, but retirement isn't part of his vocabulary. His new album Ain't In No Hurry sees him once more exploring well known songs from the folk and country canons plus a healthy dose of originals. He is one of the greatest acoustic guitar players this side of Betelgeuse, with a finger picking style that is totally at ease and nearly impossible to replicate.
Leave it to Kaukonen to handle the story telling. In My Dreams is a gentle song love and getting older, the latter theme calls again in The Other Side of the Mountain. He make other people's songs his own and gets away with writing new music for a Woody Guthrie song (Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me) and find a fresh approach for Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out.
Aided by his long time Hot Tuna partner Jack Casady, Barry Mitterhoff, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Myron Hart and Justin Guip, he proofs once again that he is a giant in the Americana niche and beyond.
Ain't In No Hurry is released on Red House Records.
Tracks:02/16-02/22 trio w/ Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
02/25-02/28 Jorma solo
03/05 & 03/15 duo w/ Barry Mitterhoff
» jormakaukonen.com
» furpeaceranch.com
HCTF review of River of Time.
Relix premieres Bar Room Crystal Ball from the new Jorma Kaukonen album Ain’t in No Hurry. Originally released on the 1975 Hot Tuna album Yellow Fever this version also features Jack Casady.
Ain't In No Hurry will be released on Red House Records. Release date: February 17, 2015.
Jorma Kaukonen dates:02/14-02/22 trio w/ Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
02/25-02/28 Jorma solo
03/05 @ 3/15 duo w/ Barry Mitterhoff
» jormakaukonen.com
» furpeaceranch.com
HCTF review of River of Time.
Jorma Kaukonen, master of finger-style guitar, has a new album coming up. Ain't In No Hurry wil contain originals and classic American songs, including a lost Woodie Guthrie lyric set to music by Jorma and Larry Campbell. The album features Hot Tuna band mate Jack Casady, Barry Mitterhoff, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Myron Hart and Justin Guip.
Ain't In No Hurry will be released on Red House Records. Release date: February 15, 2015.
Hot Tuna dates:# Acoustic Hot Tuna (Jorma and Jack)
* Electric Hot Tuna
02/14-02/22 trio w/ Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
02/25-02/28 Jorma solo
03/05 @ 3/15 duo wiBarry Mitterhoff
» jormakaukonen.com
» furpeaceranch.com
HCTF review of River of Time.
I have been teaching guitar all of my playing life. I really needed to do this. Where the ranch is now there were only prickly bushes and poison ivy. It has exceeded our wildest expectations for me and my blues-picking buddies.
Jorma Kaukonen
Red House Records is releasing the new Hot Tuna album Steady As She Goes on vinyl on June 28:
Red House Records is pleased to announce the vinyl release of "Steady As She Goes," the new hit album from legendary blues/roots band Hot Tuna. A true collector's item, this audiophile recording was mastered at half-speed and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. The deluxe album set includes two LP's, a CD copy of the album and Hot Tuna's signature temporary tattoo. Housed in a double gatefold sleeve, this unique package includes new photos from their sessions at Levon Helm's Woodstock studio not used in the original CD artwork, along with a striking vinyl etching (on the second LP) of Hot Tuna's founding members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady.
» hottuna.com
» Pre-order Steady As She Goes
HCTF review of Steady As She Goes.
It's been 20 years since the last Hot Tuna studio album. Founding members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady kept the band afloat through extensive touring and went to a longish acoustic period. They have been playing together for half a century and were key members of The Jefferson Airplane, a band whose sound stood out thanks to guitarist Kaukonen's use of sustain and Casady's fluid bass playing. Those two key elements are found on Steady As She Goes, twelve songs of rocking Americana.
Half to the numbers on the album are originals, most of them co-written by Kaukonen and the album's producer Larry Campbell, who also plays guitar, fiddle and organ. Long time Hot Tuna member Barry Mitterhoff add dabs of color with subdued mandolin fills, but the band's secret weapon is drummer Skoota Warner, a jazz cat with a blues rock heart, who know how to swing the band digs deep playing classic such as Goodbye To The Blues and Vicksburg Stomp. And for those who want a bit of Airplane: Teresa Williams does a fine job channeling Grace Slick.
Recorded at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock, Hot Tuna laid down an album that is sounding fresh and warm, instantly recognizable and a worthy addition to their discography. Go see them live if you can. With a bit of luck they will send you home with an expanded version of the slow Second Changes or the funky Mourning Interrupted.
Hot Tuna::
Jorma Kaukonen: electric and acoustic guitar, vocals
Jack Casady: bass
Barry Mitterhoff: mandolin, electric and acoustic octave mandolin
Skoota Warner: drums
Steady As She Goes is released on Red House Records.
Tracks:
Modern Guitars Magazine has an interview with Jorma Kaukonen who has been playing for fifty years. He has collected a wide range of guitars:
Well, because I've been around for so long I'm one of these guys that go, “If I only had that '57 Les Paul custom, 3 pickup, black, so I could sell it today.”
You know, I've owned a lot of stuff because I've been around for a long time. But, I've never loved electric guitars the way I loved acoustic guitars.They've disappeared, they’ve been stolen, I've bought them, I've sold them, this and that. The electric guitars I'm playing here tonight with Hot Tuna, I'm playing this Chet Atkins guitar that Gibson makes which works with the finger-picking stuff with the bands. They amplify well. And I'm using a 335 style Epiphone. It’s a discontinued Jorma model. And I love those. I've been playing that guitar for 10 years now and will for as long as they hold together, because they don’t make that model anymore. That’s fine. But, acoustic guitar is another story. I still have my '59 Gibson J-50 that I paid $100 for new at Pop's Music Store in Dayton, Ohio in '59.
HCTF review of River of Time.
HCTF review of Stars In My Crown.
Try finding a better finger picking acoustic guitar player than Jorma Kaukonen. You might as well give up and pop his new album River of Time in the player instead. Though most people will associate Kaukonen with the Jefferson Airplane his first love was acoustic blues and country. Some of the songs were regulars in the live shows of Hot Tuna, the band he co-founded with Jack Cassady after the duo had left the Airplane. Been So Long and Operator are revisited and have been giving a downhome acoustic make-over. Kaukonen wrote about half of the songs on the album, the other tracks are favourites from the Americana and country songbook, by luminaries such as Merle Haggard and Mississippi John Hurt.
River of Timewas recorded at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock. The drummer ended up playing on most of the songs of album. Further notable collaborators are mandolin ace Barry Mitterhoff and multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell who also produced.
Jorma Kaukonen has been playing for more than fifty years and he still finds new ways to improve his style and tone. With River of Time he proofs once again that age doesn't matter. Musicianship does. Bring on the next album.
River Of Time is released on Red House Records.
Tracks:Want to play like Jorma? Or at least try? Visit breakdownway.com.
Jorma Kaukonen is one of the world's most gifted acoustic guitar players. His new album Stars In My Crown is a celebration of the less-is-more concept: select a Gibson from his extensive collection and just start playing. Recorded in Nashville with his Hot Tuna fellow band member Barry Mitterhoff and seasoned veterans like Byron House on upright bass this album is a breathtaking journey through bluegrass, gospel classics and a couple of originals. Just listen to their version of Johnny Cash' When The Man Comes Around.
Flawlessly produced you get the feeling that you are in the same room with the band. If you liked his 2002 album Blue Country Heart, there's no doubt whatsoever that you will want to add Stars In My Crown to your collection pronto. I nearly fell over laughing when Rivers of Babylon came on, a song that was ruined forever by Boney M, one of the worst bands to come out of Germany. There is no way that I can listen to it without crackin' up.
Fifty years of practice have turned Jorma Kaukonen into a master of the the fingerstyle guitar. No wonder that roots music players find their way to his Fur Peace Ranch for advice, lessons and the opportunity to play in the cozy 220 seats Concert Hall.
Stars In My Crown is released on Red House Records.
