Jorma Kaukonen - Genesis

One of the founding members of the classic 1960s psychedelic band Jefferson Airplane and still a member of the blues band Hot Tuna (with his long-time musical collaborator, bassist Jack Casady, who also was a member of the Airplane), Jorma Kaukonen's musical career has spanned a variety of genres, and he brings a purist-type sensibility to whatever style he happens to inhabit at the moment.

Jorma Kaukonen (courtesy of his website)

From his biography:

A Brief History of Jorma Kaukonen

In a career that has already spanned a half-century, Jorma Kaukonen has been the leading practitioner and teacher of fingerstyle guitar, one of the most highly respected interpreters of American roots music, blues, and Americana, and at the forefront of popular rock-and-roll. He was a founding member of two legendary bands, The Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna, a Grammy nominee, a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the most in-demand instructor in the galaxy of stars who teach at the Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp that he and his wife operate in picturesque Southeastern Ohio.

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 capitol. He wanted to take up guitar and make that kind of music himself. Soon he met Jack Casady, the younger brother of a friend and a guitar player in his own right. Though they could not have known it, they were beginning a musical partnership that has continued for over 50 years.

After a break from college and travel overseas, Jorma moved to California, where he returned to classes and earned money by teaching guitar. It was at this time that a banjo-playing friend invited him to join a rock band, and although Jorma’s true passion was roots music, he decided to join. In fact, the new band The Jefferson Airplane got its name from Jorma, who was given the joke nickname Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane, parodying the names of blues legends.

Jorma invited his old musical partner Jack Casady to come out to San Francisco and play electric bass for The Jefferson Airplane, and together they created much of The Jefferson Airplane’s signature sound. 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 The Jefferson Airplane after the band’s most productive five years, pursuing his full-time job with Hot Tuna.

Over the next three and a half decades Hot Tuna would perform thousands of concerts and release more than two-dozen records. The musicians who performed with them were many and widely varied, as were 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, playing with the energy of their youth and the skill that they have developed over the year.

The Reverend Gary Davis, a guitarist whose style has influenced generations of guitar players ("Gary Davis took you out of playing baby guitar and made you play it like a grown man." -Taj Mahal) had, and continues to have, a big impact on Kaukonen's style. Davis' fingerpicking style, rooted in ragtime rhythms, are wonderfully precise and musical, with lovely melodies underpinned by moving bass lines that compliment his songs very nicely. Kaukonen employs that same sense of steady rhythm and skillful  fingerpicking as the centerpiece of the song "Genesis," a gentle song that's partly an appeal to the woman he loves, and partly a warning that things could get difficult at times:

And as we walked into the day
Skies of blue had turned to grey
I might have not been clear to say (to say)
I never looked away
I never looked away

It's a beautiful song, and it's a tune that I simply don't tire of hearing. In just a few simple verses, it touches upon myriad feelings and emotions, and it ends on a note of hopeful optimism.

When Kaukonen isn't touring, either as a solo act or with Hot Tuna, he probably can be found at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp in Southeastern Ohio (very close to where I grew up in Eastern Kentucky, in fact). He describes the place as "a ranch that grows guitar players," and it provides a series of four-day workshops in guitar, bass, mandolin, plus workshops in songwriting and vocal performance...from beginner to experienced level musicians. Some great musicians teach these classes, such as G.E. Smith, Larry Campbell, Bob Margolin, David Lindley, Jack Casady and Oteil Burbridge.

Can you tell I want to go to this camp?

And when we came out into view
And there I found myself with you
And breathing felt like something new
Along with you
Going along with you

From Genesis by Jorma Kaukonen