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A Brief History of Jorma Kaukonen “A pioneer of San Francisco psychedelia, Jorma Kaukonen is a bona fide graybeard folk swami. He mostly lays back, a master in situ, unfurling melodies and savoring every note. – Rolling Stone Magazine In a career that has already spanned a half-century, Jorma Kaukonen has been one of the most highly respected interpreters of American roots music, blues, and rock. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy recipient, Jorma was at the forefront of popular rock and roll, one of the founders of the San Francisco sound and a progenitor of Psychedelic Rock. He is a founding member of two legendary bands, Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna. Jorma Kaukonen is a music legend and one of the finest singer-songwriters in his field. He continues to tour the world bringing his unique styling to old blues tunes while presenting new songs of weight and dimension. His secret is in playing spontaneous and unfiltered music, with an individual expression of personality. In 2016, Jorma, Jack Casady and the other members of Jefferson Airplane were awarded The GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award for their contributions to American music. "A mesmerizing storyteller, Kaukonen delivers a memoir as intricate and dazzling as his music." —Publishers Weekly, starred review In 2019 St. Martin’s Press published Jorma‘s autobiography, Been So Long: My Life and Music, written to express his life both in and out of the music world. As Kaukonen describes, “My story is my story. Having told bits and pieces of it over my lifetime to a treasured few, it was time to tell all to a bigger audience...From rehearsals and jams in small apartments and tiny back rooms to Monterey, Woodstock, Altamont, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the world of the Grammys and beyond… this is part of the road I live on. This is my embryonic journey and much, much more!” "At a time when many rock stars are releasing memoirs, Jorma Kaukonen's Been So Long: My Life and Music stands apart.... an incredibly insightful look inside the life of a musician who was not only influenced by some of America’s greatest music but who also left an indelible mark on that very same musical landscape." —AXS The son of a State Department official, Jorma Kaukonen, Jr. was born and raised in the Washington D.C. area, with occasional extended trips outside the United States. He was a devotee of rock and roll in the Buddy Holly era but soon developed a love for the blues and bluegrass that were profuse in the clubs and concerts in the nation’s capital. It inspired him to take up guitar and play that kind of music himself. Soon he met Jack Casady, the younger brother of a friend and a wonderful guitar player in his own right. Though they could not have known it, they were beginning a musical partnership that has continued for more than 50 years. Jorma graduated from high school and headed off for Antioch College in Ohio, where he met Ian Buchanan, who introduced him to the elaborate fingerstyle fretwork of the Rev. Gary Davis. A work-study program in New York introduced Jorma, the increasingly skilled guitarist, to that city’s burgeoning folk-blues-bluegrass scene and many of its players. After a break from college and travel overseas, Jorma moved to California, where he returned to classes at Santa Clara University and earned money by teaching guitar. It was at this time, in 1965, that he met Paul Kantner and was invited to join a new not-yet-named rock band Kantner was forming with Marty Balin. As a self-described blues purist, Kaukonen was initially reluctant, but found his imagination excited by the arsenal of effects available to electric guitar, later remarking that he was "sucked in by technology." With the group still looking for a name, Kaukonen suggested Jefferson Airplane, inspired by an eccentric friend who had given his dog the name "Blind Lemon Jefferson Airplane." Jorma invited his old musical partner Jack Casady to come out to San Francisco and play electric bass for the new band, and together they created much of Jefferson Airplane’s signature sound. A pioneer of counterculture-era psychedelic rock, the group was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve international mainstream success. Their 1967 record Surrealistic Pillow is regarded as one of the key recordings of the "Summer of Love." “Jorma Kaukonen is a force in American music, equally adept at fingerpicked acoustic folk and blues as he is at wailing on an electric.” – Acoustic Guitar Jorma and Jack would jam whenever they could and would sometimes perform sets within sets at Airplane concerts. The two would often play clubs following Airplane performances. Making a name for themselves as a duo, they struck a record deal, and Hot Tuna was born. Jorma left Jefferson Airplane after the band’s most productive five years, pursuing his full-time job with Hot Tuna. Over the past five decades Hot Tuna has performed thousands of concerts and released more than two-dozen records. The musicians who have performed with them are many and widely varied, as are their styles — from acoustic to long and loud electric jams, but never straying far from their musical roots. What is remarkable is that they have never coasted. Hot Tuna today sounds better than ever. “It is Kaukonen’s original material that best tells the story.” – Forbes Jorma’s originals from his poignant instrumentals, “Embryonic Journey” (Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow) and “The Water Song” (Hot Tuna - Burgers), to his insightful lyrics, “Genesis” (Jorma Kaukonen - Quah), have stood the test of time. Having an undeniable feeling of significance, they have been included in films and covered by many artists who have been inspired by his depth and continuity of spirit. “[His] dexterity runs circles around most players … His material stands the test of time in a way that most others will not.” – Billboard In addition to his work with Hot Tuna, Jorma has recorded more than a dozen solo albums on major labels beginning with 1974’s Quah and continuing with his recent acoustic releases on Red House Records — Stars in My Crown (2007) produced by Byron House, River of Time (2009) produced by Larry Campbell and featuring Levon Helm and Jorma’s latest solo album, Ain’t in No Hurry (2015) also produced by Larry Campbell and featuring Jack Casady. "Clearly not content on resting on any of his legendary laurels, Jorma Kaukonen continues to find ways to wed his muse to the right material and create a colorful tableau." – Relix But performance and recording are only part of the story. As the leading practitioner and teacher of fingerstyle guitar, Jorma and his wife Vanessa Lillian operate one of the world’s most unique centers for the study of guitar and other instruments. Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp is located on 125 acres of fields, woods, hills, and streams in the Appalachian foothills of Southeastern Ohio. Since it opened in 1998, thousands of musicians whose skills range from basic to highly accomplished gather for weekends of master instruction offered by Jorma and other instructors who are leaders in their musical fields. A multitude of renowned performers make the trek to Ohio to teach at Fur Peace Ranch and play at the performance hall, Fur Peace Station. It has become an important stop on the touring circuit for artists who do not normally play intimate 200-seat venues, bringing such artists as David Bromberg, Roger McGuinn, Arlo Guthrie, Dave Alvin, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Warren Haynes, Lee Roy Parnell, Chris Hillman and more. Students, instructors, and visiting artists alike welcome the peace and tranquility -- as well as the great music and great instruction -- that Fur Peace Ranch offers. At Fur Peace Ranch the Kaukonens have created the Psylodelic Gallery, a museum in a silo, celebrating the music, art, culture, and literature of the 1960's, tracing important events and movements of the psychedelic era. They produce concerts at the Fur Peace Station which are streamed internationally on YouTube as well as broadcast on WOUB 91.3 FM. The Kaukonens there support their local community through art festivals and a restaurant on site. Jorma Kaukonen is constantly looking to take his musical horizons further still, always moving forward and he is quick to say that teaching is among the most rewarding aspects of his career. “You just can’t go backward. The arrow of time only goes in one direction.”
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What fans are saying
Dave
May 8th 2024
Amazing! Jorma at 83 is as good as he ever has been. Mind blowing talent. If you get the chance don’t miss this one. Venue was great acoustically. Not a bad seat in the house
Minneapolis, MN@The Parkway Theater
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The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center (the Kate) is an intimate 284-seat theater with state-of-the-art technology and excellent acoustics. Located in an historic bui...
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Jorma Kaukonen Biography
Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. (born December 23, 1940 in Washington, D.C.) is an American blues, folk and rock guitarist.
Biography
Born to a Finnish American father and a Jewish American mother, employed by the U.S. foreign service, Kaukonen was a founding member of the popular psychedelic San Francisco-based band Jefferson Airplane, which scored two Top 10 radio hits in 1967 with "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit."
Kaukonen learned to play guitar as a teenager in Washington, D.C. But before moving to the DC area, Jorma and family lived in the Philippines 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 Airplane bassist Jack Casady (who at the time played six-string guitar) formed a band named The Triumphs. Kaukonen departed Washington for studies at Antioch College where friend Ian Buchanan taught him fingerstyle guitar playing. Buchanan also introduced Kaukonen to the music of Reverend Gary Davis, whose songs have remained important parts of Kaukonen's repertoire throughout his career.
In 1962 Kaukonen moved to the San Francisco bay area and enrolled in Santa Clara University. During this time he taught guitar lessons in a small music store in San Jose. As a self-described blues 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 Joplin 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 Airplane rehearsal by founding member Paul Kantner, 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
Kaukonen's electric guitar work was distinctive and widely emulated by other Bay Area guitarists. Notable work with Jefferson Airplane includes "Greasy Heart", "If You Feel", "Hey Frederick" (which culminates in an extended lead guitar duet with himself), "Wooden Ships" and his original composition, "Feel So Good". Rolling Stone 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. "Embryonic Journey" showcased his fingerstyle acoustic guitar virtuosity. On the next Jefferson Airplane album, After Bathing at Baxter's, his playing developed a harder-edged sound inspired by Mike Bloomfield of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Cream and other groups that visited San Francisco. These stylistic changes are prominent in the acid rocker "The Last Wall of the Castle", as well as the instrumental "Spare Chaynge", co-written with bassist Jack Casady and drummer Spencer Dryden. Clocking in at 9:12 minutes, this improvisational style was further explored on the free-form extended jams "Thing" and "Bear Melt", both live instrumentals recorded in 1968. Kaukonen insists, however, on the liner notes of the Live at the Fillmore East album that these jams were not chaotic "free for alls" but in fact "complex rehearsed arrangements." Two notable songs that were later to become Hot Tuna signature tunes were also recorded during the 1968-1969 period. These were the traditionals "Rock Me Baby " and the gospel ballad "Good Shepherd." Other original compositions with the Airplane appeared on the 1971 album "Bark", the instrumental "Wild Turkey" and "Feel So good", as well as the acoustic autobiographical "Third Week in the Chelsea" detailing his feelings about the disintegration of the band.
Hot Tuna and solo career
In 1969-70, Kaukonen and Jack Casady formed Hot Tuna, a spin-off group that allowed them to play as long as they liked. An early incarnation of Hot Tuna included Airplane vocalist Marty Balin and featured Joey Covington 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 Tuna lived on as a vehicle for Kaukonen to show off his Piedmont style acoustic blues fingerpicking skills. The self-titled first album was all acoustic and recorded live. With the dissolution of Jefferson Airplane in 1972, Hot Tuna went electric, with Airplane fiddler Papa John Creach joining for the next two albums. Hot Tuna scored an FM hit with "Ja Da (Keep On Truckin')" from their third (and first studio) album, Burgers. At this time, Kaukonen's song-writing began to dominate, as further evidenced by the next album, The Phosphorescent Rat, which only featured one cover song. Beginning with their fifth album, America's Choice (1974), the addition of drummer Bob Steeler encouraged a rise in volume and a change of band personality -- a rampaging, Cream-like rock with often quasi-mystical lyrics courtesy of Kaukonen. During this period, the power trio was known for its very long live sets and instrumental jamming.
In 1974, Kaukonen recorded the first and most successful of several solo albums, Quah, 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 Quah's cover is today on display at Donkey Coffe and Espresso, a coffee shop in Athens, Ohio.
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, Jorma, a mix of electric guitar and acoustic fingerstyle in 1979. Meanwhile, he had formed the band "Vital Parts".
Vital Parts featured bassist Denny DeGorio, who had played in a San Francisco band called the "Offs" 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 tattoos adorn his body, back and arms. The album Barbeque King 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 records.
He continued playing as a solo artist throughout the 1980s at such venues as The Chestnut Cabaret 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 1987 Hot Tuna performance, Kaukonen surprised fellow Airplane alumnus Paul Kantner, who was sitting in, with a surprise appearance by his estranged lover Grace Slick; the success of this performance helped to pave the way for a Jefferson Airplane reunion tour and record in 1989.
In 1980, Kaukonen appeared on Robert Hunter's 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 Area. Relix also released Splashdown, featuring a rare performance by Hot Tuna on WQIV, a defunct radio station in New York. Kippel was instrumental in reuniting Kaukonen and Casady in 1985 for a Hot Tuna theater tour. Relix Records was Hot Tuna's record company until 2000, and also released Classic Hot Tuna Acoustic, Classic Hot Tuna Electric, Live at Sweetwater, and Live at Sweetwater 2.
Two notable outside projects Kaukonen played on were the David Crosby album "If I Could Only Remember My Name" (1971) and Warren Zevon's "Transverse City" (1989). In 1993, he collaborated with ex-Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten in recording numerous arrangements of "Embryonic Journey". The resulting tracks were released as an album 1994 on the Relix label. In 1999, he played several gigs with Phil Lesh and Friends. In 2000, he appeared with jam band Widespread Panic during their summer tour.
With his wife Vanessa, Kaukonen currently owns and operates the Fur Peace Ranch, a 119 acre music and guitar camp in the hills of southeast Ohio, north of Pomeroy; complete with a 32 track studio. He is currently under contract as a solo artist to Red House Records and still records and tours with Jack Casady and other friends such as Barry Mitterhof as Hot Tuna. His 2002 album Blue Country Heart 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 bluegrass band. The album was nominated for a Grammy. His latest album, Stars In My Crown, was released in March 2007.
Read MoreBiography
Born to a Finnish American father and a Jewish American mother, employed by the U.S. foreign service, Kaukonen was a founding member of the popular psychedelic San Francisco-based band Jefferson Airplane, which scored two Top 10 radio hits in 1967 with "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit."
Kaukonen learned to play guitar as a teenager in Washington, D.C. But before moving to the DC area, Jorma and family lived in the Philippines 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 Airplane bassist Jack Casady (who at the time played six-string guitar) formed a band named The Triumphs. Kaukonen departed Washington for studies at Antioch College where friend Ian Buchanan taught him fingerstyle guitar playing. Buchanan also introduced Kaukonen to the music of Reverend Gary Davis, whose songs have remained important parts of Kaukonen's repertoire throughout his career.
In 1962 Kaukonen moved to the San Francisco bay area and enrolled in Santa Clara University. During this time he taught guitar lessons in a small music store in San Jose. As a self-described blues 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 Joplin 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 Airplane rehearsal by founding member Paul Kantner, 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
Kaukonen's electric guitar work was distinctive and widely emulated by other Bay Area guitarists. Notable work with Jefferson Airplane includes "Greasy Heart", "If You Feel", "Hey Frederick" (which culminates in an extended lead guitar duet with himself), "Wooden Ships" and his original composition, "Feel So Good". Rolling Stone 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. "Embryonic Journey" showcased his fingerstyle acoustic guitar virtuosity. On the next Jefferson Airplane album, After Bathing at Baxter's, his playing developed a harder-edged sound inspired by Mike Bloomfield of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Cream and other groups that visited San Francisco. These stylistic changes are prominent in the acid rocker "The Last Wall of the Castle", as well as the instrumental "Spare Chaynge", co-written with bassist Jack Casady and drummer Spencer Dryden. Clocking in at 9:12 minutes, this improvisational style was further explored on the free-form extended jams "Thing" and "Bear Melt", both live instrumentals recorded in 1968. Kaukonen insists, however, on the liner notes of the Live at the Fillmore East album that these jams were not chaotic "free for alls" but in fact "complex rehearsed arrangements." Two notable songs that were later to become Hot Tuna signature tunes were also recorded during the 1968-1969 period. These were the traditionals "Rock Me Baby " and the gospel ballad "Good Shepherd." Other original compositions with the Airplane appeared on the 1971 album "Bark", the instrumental "Wild Turkey" and "Feel So good", as well as the acoustic autobiographical "Third Week in the Chelsea" detailing his feelings about the disintegration of the band.
Hot Tuna and solo career
In 1969-70, Kaukonen and Jack Casady formed Hot Tuna, a spin-off group that allowed them to play as long as they liked. An early incarnation of Hot Tuna included Airplane vocalist Marty Balin and featured Joey Covington 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 Tuna lived on as a vehicle for Kaukonen to show off his Piedmont style acoustic blues fingerpicking skills. The self-titled first album was all acoustic and recorded live. With the dissolution of Jefferson Airplane in 1972, Hot Tuna went electric, with Airplane fiddler Papa John Creach joining for the next two albums. Hot Tuna scored an FM hit with "Ja Da (Keep On Truckin')" from their third (and first studio) album, Burgers. At this time, Kaukonen's song-writing began to dominate, as further evidenced by the next album, The Phosphorescent Rat, which only featured one cover song. Beginning with their fifth album, America's Choice (1974), the addition of drummer Bob Steeler encouraged a rise in volume and a change of band personality -- a rampaging, Cream-like rock with often quasi-mystical lyrics courtesy of Kaukonen. During this period, the power trio was known for its very long live sets and instrumental jamming.
In 1974, Kaukonen recorded the first and most successful of several solo albums, Quah, 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 Quah's cover is today on display at Donkey Coffe and Espresso, a coffee shop in Athens, Ohio.
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, Jorma, a mix of electric guitar and acoustic fingerstyle in 1979. Meanwhile, he had formed the band "Vital Parts".
Vital Parts featured bassist Denny DeGorio, who had played in a San Francisco band called the "Offs" 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 tattoos adorn his body, back and arms. The album Barbeque King 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 records.
He continued playing as a solo artist throughout the 1980s at such venues as The Chestnut Cabaret 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 1987 Hot Tuna performance, Kaukonen surprised fellow Airplane alumnus Paul Kantner, who was sitting in, with a surprise appearance by his estranged lover Grace Slick; the success of this performance helped to pave the way for a Jefferson Airplane reunion tour and record in 1989.
In 1980, Kaukonen appeared on Robert Hunter's 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 Area. Relix also released Splashdown, featuring a rare performance by Hot Tuna on WQIV, a defunct radio station in New York. Kippel was instrumental in reuniting Kaukonen and Casady in 1985 for a Hot Tuna theater tour. Relix Records was Hot Tuna's record company until 2000, and also released Classic Hot Tuna Acoustic, Classic Hot Tuna Electric, Live at Sweetwater, and Live at Sweetwater 2.
Two notable outside projects Kaukonen played on were the David Crosby album "If I Could Only Remember My Name" (1971) and Warren Zevon's "Transverse City" (1989). In 1993, he collaborated with ex-Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten in recording numerous arrangements of "Embryonic Journey". The resulting tracks were released as an album 1994 on the Relix label. In 1999, he played several gigs with Phil Lesh and Friends. In 2000, he appeared with jam band Widespread Panic during their summer tour.
With his wife Vanessa, Kaukonen currently owns and operates the Fur Peace Ranch, a 119 acre music and guitar camp in the hills of southeast Ohio, north of Pomeroy; complete with a 32 track studio. He is currently under contract as a solo artist to Red House Records and still records and tours with Jack Casady and other friends such as Barry Mitterhof as Hot Tuna. His 2002 album Blue Country Heart 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 bluegrass band. The album was nominated for a Grammy. His latest album, Stars In My Crown, was released in March 2007.
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