Approaching his 85th birthday, Jorma Kaukonen is a national treasure. Though largely unknown by the younger generations, he is a master of blues, folk and rock guitar. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Kaukonen as number 54 on its list of "100 Greatest Guitarists." He is one of the few remaining proponents of traditional Piedmont-style finger-picking acoustic blues. The concert at Carnegie Hall celebrated his upcoming birthday on December 23 with down-home acoustic jams with friends.
Kaukonen had his first musical success playing guitar in the late 1960s psychedelic rock era with Jefferson Airplane. In 1969, he and childhood friend and Airplane bassist Jack Casady launched blues-rocking Hot Tuna as a side project. Jefferson Airplane split in 1973; Hot Tuna is still rocking to a faithful following after 56 years.
The Carnegie Hall concert was billed as "Jorma Kaukonen’s 85th Birthday Celebration plus Special Guests.” Kaukonen was accompanied by harmonica player Ross Garren and longtime Hot Tuna drummer Justin Guip. Throughout the two-hour program, Steve Earle, G.E. Smith, and Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams came on stage intermittently to sing and perform with Kaukonen.
As the houselights dimmed, Jorma’s wife, Vanessa Kaukonen, came on stage to announce to the audience that Casady had to cancel his participation. His doctor grounded him due to a recent replacement of a stent. Not to worry, she assured the audience that "nobody is healthier than Jack Casady." Jorma later humorously added that Casady communicated to him that, given the demography of their audience, there would not be any need to explain what a stent is. Jorma said that his reply to Casady was “I have my thumb,” indicating that he would play the bass lines on his guitar.
Multiple empty chairs and musical equipment littered the stage, as Jorma Kaukonen started the Carnegie Hall experience sitting on a chair center stage and playing solo on an acoustic guitar and singing well in his soft, earthy voice. His choice for an opening song was “Embryonic Journey,” an instrumental that he composed in 1963 as part of a guitar workshop in Santa Clara, California. Its first recording was on Jefferson Airplane's 1967 Surrealistic Pillow album; since then, the track been featured in the soundtrack of several film and television shows.
For the second song, Kaukonen invited harmonica player Ross Garren and drummer Justin Guip on stage. Continuing the retrospective, the trio performed “Genesis,” the first song from Kaukonen’s 1974 debut solo album Quah. Garren and Guip remained on stage with Kaukonen for most of the rest of the program.
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| Jorma Kaukonen and Larry Campbell |
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| Jorma Kaukonen with Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams |
The special guests portion of the show included Larry Campbell joining the core trio on violin on “A Walk with Friends” and “Hesitation Blues.” Campbell then played mandolin and his wife, Teresa Williams, sang on Hot Tuna’s “Bar Room Crystal Ball.” Campbell switched to guitar for “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning.” Campbell played these three instruments for much of the show.Kaukonen invited Steve Earle on stage. The two reminisced about how they met years ago, Earle played guitar and sang his own song, “Hometown Blues,” and “Brand New Companion,” a song he recorded on his album of Townes Van Zandt covers.
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| Jorma Kaukonen with Steve Earle |
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| Jorma Kaukonen with G.E. Smith |
G.E. Smith replaced Earle in the main guest seat. Smith played lead guitar for Hall and Oates during the duo’s heydays and was featured on five number one charted songs. He spoke about how as an aspiring teen-age guitarist in a small town in Pennsylvania, he studied and copied Kaukonen and Casady’s playing styles. With Garren and Guip, Kaukonen and Smith performed three vintage blues songs, “Uncle Sam Blues”, “That'll Never Happen No More” and “Death Don't Have No Mercy.”Kaukonen concluded the main set with “Ice Age,” a song he originally recorded for his 1985 solo acoustic album, Too Hot to Handle. Jefferson Airplane also recorded the song for its 1989 reunion album. Perhaps a fitting parting thought to close the set, "Ice Age" has political themes and lyrics about the futility of war and the desire for escape.
Called back for an encore, all the musicians sang and played a cover of Leadbelly’s “Good Night Irene.” The musicians then led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday to You” to Kaukonen. He then ended the program by performing as he started, alone on the stage with simply an acoustic guitar and a microphone, singing Hot Tuna’s “True Religion” and a more recent addition to Kaukonen’s repertoire, a cover of Frank Goodman’s “Where Have My Old Friends Gone,” a song that raises questions about death and the afterlife. "It seems we're saying goodbye a lot more than saying hello," he said in explaining his choice for the finale.
Kaukonen’s performance demonstrated that when he skillfully fingerpicks an old blues song, he does what very few musicians can do. The results were a treat to the ears and a delight for the eyes. His voice and fingers paid tribute to a disappearing style of Americana music.
Kaukonen was very generous with his guests, and sometimes gave them more time in a song than he gave himself. Still very much a music fan, he attentively watched and listened to the guests. While overall the music at Carnegie Hall was very good, perhaps the performance would have been better with less contributions from the guests. In recent years, Kaukonen’s solo shows at smaller venues like City Winery have offered the fans more guitar bang for their buck.
Setlist
Embryonic Journey (Jefferson Airplane song)
Genesis
A Walk with Friends
Hesitation Blues ([traditional] cover)
Bar Room Crystal Ball (Hot Tuna song)
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
Hometown Blues (Steve Earle cover, with Earle on vocals)
Brand New Companion (Townes Van Zandt cover, with Earle on vocals)
Uncle Sam Blues ([traditional] cover)
That'll Never Happen No More (Blind Blake cover)
Death Don't Have No Mercy (Reverend Gary Davis cover)
Ice Age
Encore
Goodnight, Irene (Lead Belly cover, with all guest performers)
Happy Birthday to You (Mildred J. Hill & Patty Hill cover, sung to Kaukonen by the musicians and audience)
True Religion (Hot Tuna song)
Where Have My Old Friends Gone (Frank Goodman cover)
Related articles
Hot Tuna at the Capitol Theatre (2022)
Electric Hot Tuna at Carnegie Hall (2022)
Jorma Kaukonen at City Winery (2021)
Hot Tuna at the Beacon Theatre (2018)
Jorma Kaukonen at City Winery (2018)
Hot Tuna at City Winery (2017)
Hot Tuna at the Beacon Theatre (2016)
Jorma Kaukonen at City Winery (2016)
Hot Tuna at the Beacon Theatre (2015)
Hot Tuna at the Highline Ballroom (2014)
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The Manhattan Beat covers New York City's live music circuit. All articles are written by Everynight Charley Crespo. All photographs are taken by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise.
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