{"id":314479,"date":"2025-11-26T09:01:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/314479\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T09:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:01:13","slug":"jorma-kaukonen-says-he-was-amazed-at-his-guitar-playing-in-1965-as-featured-on-his-new-archival-live-album-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/314479\/","title":{"rendered":"Jorma Kaukonen Says He Was \u201cAmazed\u201d at His Guitar Playing in 1965, as featured on His New Archival Live Album (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Founding Jefferson Airplane<\/a> lead guitarist and Hot Tuna<\/a> frontman Jorma Kaukonen<\/a> will release a new archival live album, Wabash Avenue, this Friday, November 28, as part of the 2025 Record Store Day Black Friday event<\/a>. The limited-edition two-LP vinyl set features previously unheard songs recorded at a solo acoustic show Kaukonen played in 1965 at The Offstage, a folk club in San Jose, California.<\/p>\n

The album was recorded shortly before Jorma joined the Jefferson Airplane. It shows Kaukonen\u2019s finger-picking style guitar skills on full display as he delivers deft versions of various traditional blues and folk tunes, along with a few originals. The tapes featuring the Wabash Avenue performance were recently rediscovered by Jorma\u2019s wife, Vanessa, as they were looking through some items they had in storage.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Jefferson Airplane\/Hot Tuna Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen Announces Special 85th Birthday Concerts Featuring Various Guests]<\/a><\/p>\n

The release of Wabash Avenue is part of the celebrations leading into Jorma\u2019s 85th birthday this December 23. Kaukonen also has a series of guest-packed birthday concerts lined up in the coming weeks. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer recently chatted with American Songwriter about the new live collection and the special shows.<\/p>\n

About the Wabash Avenue Album<\/p>\n

Wabash Avenue features 19 songs, as well as an interview Kaukonen did with his wife discussing the recording\u2019s history and its rediscovery. Quality of the audio is excellent. Jorma explained that this was because his college roommate at the time had a reel-to-reel tape machine that was \u201csouped up\u201d to make professional-quality recordings, and a condenser microphone \u201cborrowed from the audio-visual department at Santa Clara University.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album includes covers of songs by such noteworthy early blues artists as Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Boy Fuller, Walter Davis, and Jim Jackson. A few of the songs were later recorded by the Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Among those is an obscure blues song called \u201cBlood-Strained Banders\u201d that the Airplane covered in 1969 under the name \u201cGood Shepherd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wabash Avenue also features a performance of the original instrumental \u201cEmbryonic Journey.\u201d Kaukonen later recorded the song for the Airplane\u2019s classic 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow.<\/p>\n

Kaukonen explained to American Songwriter that \u201cEmbryonic Journey\u201d dates back to a couple of years before the Airplane were formed. He said the folk duo Larry Hanks and Roger Perkins had played at The Offstage and had introduced him to the song that became \u201cGood Shepherd,\u201d as well as to dropped-D guitar tuning.<\/p>\n

Jorma proceeded to experiment with the tuning at home, and his roommate recorded him. As Kaukonen recalled, the roommate told him he thought he heard a song within Jorma\u2019s guitar noodling. Kaukonen listened back to the tape and felt the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to tidy it up a little bit, but, basically, it\u2019s what became \u2018Embryonic Journey,\u2019\u201d Jorma shared. \u201cIt was \u2026 just another fortuitous accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Details About the Album<\/p>\n

Wabash Avenue also features another original instrumental, \u201cLower Depths.\u201d Kaukonen explained that that song came about thanks to a stage production of the Maxim Gorky play The Lower Depths put on by the University of Santa Clara\u2019s theater department.<\/p>\n

\u201c[W]hen they did it live, I just improvised throughout that \u2026 show,\u201d Jorma shared. The theater director had taped the performance, and Kaukonen found a section in the recording that he developed into the song \u201cLower Depths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the overall performance featured on the Wabash Avenue, Kaukonen noted, \u201c[O]ne of the things that hit me when I listened to this \u2026 for a kid that really hadn\u2019t been \u2026 fingerpicking the guitar that long, I was pretty good at the time. \u2026 I\u2019m amazed in a way about how complete the music is for somebody who hadn\u2019t really been doing it that long.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cI think the answer to that is \u2026 I put the work in. You know the deal, as a guitar player. You put the work in. But my mentors, the people that brought me there, really infused me with the knowledge and the confidence that I needed to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wabash Avenue will be available exclusively at independent record shops. The discs are pressed on colored vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket. The packaging also features previously unseen photos from 1965.<\/p>\n

About Kaukonen\u2019s Upcoming 85th Birthday Concerts<\/p>\n

Kaukonen\u2019s upcoming 85th birthday concerts will take place in three different major U.S. cities in the next few weeks. The shows, which are all-acoustic, are scheduled for this Saturday, November 29, at Carnegie Hall in New York City; December 5 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco; and December 13 at the Paramount Theatre in Denver. Jorma also already played a birthday concert on November 1 at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

Kaukonen will be joined at all the shows by his fellow Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane co-founder, bassist Jack Casady; longtime Hot Tuna touring drummer Justin Guip; and harmonica player, keyboardist, and composer Ross Garren.<\/p>\n

Each concert also will feature other noteworthy guest performers. Steve Earle, the Americana duo of Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, and guitarist G.E. Smith will hit the stage in New York City.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco event will be packed with guest performers. They include Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks; Bruce Cockburn; bassist Sam Grisman, son of the famed bluegrass mandolist David Grisman; Kaukonen\u2019s brother, Peter; and frequent Jorma collaborator John Hurlbut.<\/p>\n

The Denver concert will feature Los Lobos\u2019 David Hidalgo and the duo of Native American cedar flute master R. Carlos Nakai and poet\/percussionist Will Clipman.<\/p>\n

About Earle, Kaukonen said, \u201c[He\u2019s] one of my old buddies. \u2026 I love him as a person [and] as an artist. His album \u2026 Guitar Town that came out back in the \u201980s is, in my opinion, one of the great [alt-country] albums \u2026 of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding Tedeschi and Trucks, Jorma noted, \u201cI love Susan and Derek. \u2026 They\u2019re great people, fun to work with. But I\u2019m really excited \u2026 [t]o do something with the two of them acoustically.<\/p>\n

About Kaukonen\u2019s Other Touring Plans<\/p>\n

Kaukonen will finish up 2025 with a December 18 concert with Hurlbut in Columbus, Ohio. He told American Songwriter that moving forward, he\u2019s planning to lighten his touring schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna quit touring, but I\u2019m just not gonna tour in the same way,\u201d Jorma noted. He also said he will continue to play shows both as a solo artist and with Hot Tuna.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to 2026, Kaukonen has 15 U.S. concerts lined up with Hurlbut. In February, he\u2019ll play four shows in Southern California, including a February 20-22 engagement at McCabe\u2019s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. Then, in April, he has an 11-date run of gigs plotted out from an April 2 performance in Austin, Texas, through an April 23 concert in Duluth, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Check out Jorma\u2019s full list of shows at JormaKaukonen.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wabash Avenue Track List:<\/p>\n

\u201cCome Back Baby\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Francisco Bay Blues\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKansas City Blues\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Morning Blues\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFollow the Drinking Gourd\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLower Depths\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEmbryonic Journey\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDime for a Beer\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwelve Gates to the City\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLate in the Evening\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep On Trucking Mama\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLord I\u2019ll Be with You Always\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNine Pound Hammer\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSearch My Heart\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c15 1\/2 Blues\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBlood Strained Banders\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPoor Ellen Smith\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWinin\u2019 Boy\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLullabye\u201d<\/p>\n

Interview<\/p>\n

(Photo by Jeff Fasano Photagraphy)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Founding Jefferson Airplane lead guitarist and Hot Tuna frontman Jorma Kaukonen will release a new archival live album,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2617,88,3381,161829,161830,216],"class_list":{"0":"post-314479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-classic-rock","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-interview","11":"tag-jefferson-airplane","12":"tag-jorma-kaukonen","13":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}