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<\/a>Seldom does Jorma come close to town with Hot Tuna or solo that I don\u2019t find a way to be in the audience. Having been in the middle of the San Francisco psychedelic scene in the sixties as Jefferson Airplane\u2019s lead guitar and then splintering off with Jack Casady to form the power blues combo of Hot Tuna, and leaving the rest of the band to form the pop rocking Jefferson Starship, Mr. Kaukonen was a major character in my music appreciation development.<\/p>\nThe songs of Jorma are split between the gritty blues style inspired by the likes of Reverend Gary Davis and the spacy folk love songs like \u201cGenesis\u201d and \u201cThe Water Song.\u201d All of them played with complex chord sequences and a clear true tone that make him one of the most sought after guitar gurus in the country.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kaukonen most certainly filled the house in Tomball this particular Thursday night with die-hard fans that kept the listening room atmosphere so disciplined that you could hear a pin drop, such was the respect commanded there.<\/p>\n
The show began with the gritty blues, Jorma putting down \u201cAin\u2019t in No Hurry\u201d and continued with an extended \u201cHesitation Blues\u201d, Jimmy Rogers\u2019 \u201cWaiting for a Train\u201d, and \u201cBarbecue King\u201d exhibiting a thinly guised double entendre in the true blues tradition. The blues continued with Reverend Gary Davis\u2019 \u201cLet\u2019s Get Together Right Down Here\u201d and \u201cCandyman\u201d. Kaukonen shifted gears into the psychedelic folk of a new arrangement on \u201cThe Sleep Song\u201d, followed by another folky tune, \u201cWatch the North Wind Rise\u201d. The first set ended with two more blues tunes, \u201cHow Long Blues\u201d and \u201cSan Francisco Bay Blues\u201d.<\/p>\n
The intermission commenced with the refilling of drinks and lively talk of the show so far. I had been impressed with the performer\u2019s lively witty banter and polite demeanor. The ease with which he moved, and talked and above all played that guitar belied his seventy-seven years\u2019 age that had included some pretty active partying.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The second set began with an acoustic version of the psychedelic rocker \u201cSerpent of Dreams\u201d. He followed that up with more Jimmy Rogers (\u201cProhibition Blues\u201d) and Walter Davis\u2019s 1940 composition, \u201cCome Here Baby, Let\u2019s Talk It Over\u201d. Jorma got pulled into some back and forth with the audience, talking about Jack (Casady) and Grace (Slick) and Jorma\u2019s upcoming autobiography.<\/p>\n