Jorma Kaukonen - Stars In My Crown (2007)

It's interesting the way things go in circles. In the early '60s, Jorma Kaukonen (or Jerry, as he was then) played blues guitar in the coffeehouses of the South Bay Area, sometimes with Janis Joplin. Now, after stints with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, he's back to his first love, mixing blues, gospel, and country, backed by some excellent musicians. It's a blissful self-indulgence, laid-back but still quite heartfelt, although it has to be said that not all his material meets the standards ("Heart Temporary" is a decent opener, but not in the same class as "No Demon" or Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around"), although "A Life Well Lived" is a lovely piece of work. There are some excellent covers, a couple from the Rev. Gary Davis, and a delicious version of "By the Rivers of Babylon." As you'd expect, after four and a half decades, Kaukonen can pick a mean guitar, but he's content to let others take the lead role, especially Barry Mitterhoff's mandolin work. All in all, it makes for a great package, one to be savored over and over for its gentle, soulful heart.

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434169/2007_-_Stars_In_My_Crown__320k_.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434132/2007_-_Stars_In_My_Crown__320k_.part2.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - Blue Country Heart (2002)

Acoustic fingerpicker Jorma Kaukonen fiddled around with his country roots a bit in Jefferson Airplane and dipped a little deeper while fronting Hot Tuna, but his 2002 release, Blue Country Heart, is his most summertime-afternoon, front-porch-pickin' album. The album is comprised of traditional country songs from the '30s and '40s popularized by legendary performers like Jimmy Rodgers, Jimmy Davis, Gene Autry, and the Delmore Brothers. The blue country band features contemporary acoustic virtuosos Sam Bush on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on dobro, bassist Byron House, and Grammy-winner Béla Fleck on banjo, backing Kaukonen's nimble fingers and gruff vocals. The whole album carries an easygoing vibe throughout; whether Kaukonen is waiting for a train, recounting his promiscuous tomcat, or escaping from a chain gang, his voice maintains a relaxed feel, and the "no overdubs" recording style gives it a real "living room jam" kind of sound. The recordings aren't flawless, but pretty close, and any brown notes and voice crackles only help to add to the down-home atmosphere, making for a warmly enjoyable listening experience.

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434147/2002_-_Blue_Country_Heart__320k_.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434128/2002_-_Blue_Country_Heart__320k_.part2.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen Trio - Live (2001)

Jorma Kaukonen Trio Live is a live album taken from performances from Jorma Kaukonen's 1999 solo tour, and his last album for Relix Records. Performing with Kaukonen were Michael Falzarano and Pete Sears who had both been present on his previous solo album, Too Many Years, and had performed with Hot Tuna on their last release, And Furthurmore.... After release of this album, Kaukonen and Jack Casady began to perform as "Jack & Jorma, The Original Acoustic Hot Tuna" and Falzarano and Sears performed much less with Hot Tuna and Kaukonen's solo act, with Sears finally leaving in 2001 and Falzarano leaving in 2002. His distinctive, bluesy voice is eerily as it was on Hot Tuna's first album thirty-some years ago and ditto for his picking style. The best songs on this album are those written by others: True Religion, How Long Blues, Death Don't Have No Mercy, and I Know You Rider. Three of those were on the first Hot Tuna album but better done there. The best Kaukonen-penned tune is I See The Light. The album closes with a lame rendition of the Grateful Dead's Friend of the Devil. Jerry Garcia is spinning in his grave! Overall, I like this CD but if you already own Hot Tuna's first album, there is no real reason to own this one. The arrangements here, though enjoyable, don't really measure up to the originals.

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434160/2001_-_Live__320k_.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434127/2001_-_Live__320k_.part2.rar.html

Sam Bush & Jorma Kaukonen - High Sierra Workshop 6-30-2000

This performance by Sam Bush and Jorma Kaukonen from High Sierra Music Festival on June 30, 2000 could be what influenced Jorma to record Blue Country Heart which is a masterpiece of roots blues and country featuring Jorma, Sam, Bela Fleck, Byron House and Jerry Douglas. The picking in this set is mind blowing and the synergy between Jorma and Sam is amazing. For some of the tunes, Sam plays slide on what he refers to as a ham can which is a National dobro mandolin. Jorma accuses Sam of being a “very disturbed man” for playing such an instrument. The rhetoric between these guys is hilarious. This is one of the favorite live shows in my collection and I hope you find it as much fun as I did.

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434117/2000_-_High_Sierra_Workshop_6-30-2000__320k_.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.de/files/40434043/2000_-_High_Sierra_Workshop_6-30-2000__320k_.part2.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - Too Many Years (1998)

This may be one of the absolute best albums Jorma Kaukonen has made (with or without Hot Tuna). His singing is better than ever - very bluesy, compelling, sensitive. The title song is a beautiful ballad, beautifully done. Tuna and Dead fans will love the Dead's "Friend of the Devil". Michael Falzarano's Gypsy Fire really rocks. Fine version of Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Got to Move" and other good, rockin' blues compositions of Jorma's. This one is a definite winner!

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143801158/1998_-_Too_Many_Years__320k_.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143800808/1998_-_Too_Many_Years__320k_.part2.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - Christmas (1996)

Christmas With Jorma Kaukonen is a collection of folk-rock Christmas songs written and performed by Kaukonen and his musical partner Michael Falzarano. These original numbers should appeal to Kaukonen's fans, but may also extend past that to other folk-rock listeners. Curious buyers may want to take a chance on this album, few Christmas albums contain as many original songs as this one does.

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143796149/1996_-_Christmas__320k_.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143794781/1996_-_Christmas__320k_.part2.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen Band - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO (1996)

Recorde live in Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO 02/07/1996. Source: (FOH, Right side of SBD) B&K 4011's > Lunatec 316 > SV255 (@48kHz). Lineup: Jorma Kaukonen - Lead Guitar, Michael Falzarano - Rythm Guitar, Mandolin, Pete Sears - Accordion, Keys & Harvey Sorgen - Drums.

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143800881/1996_-_Bluebird_Theater_-_Denver__CO.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143800980/1996_-_Bluebird_Theater_-_Denver__CO.part2.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 3):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143801039/1996_-_Bluebird_Theater_-_Denver__CO.part3.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 4):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143801080/1996_-_Bluebird_Theater_-_Denver__CO.part4.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 5):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143799189/1996_-_Bluebird_Theater_-_Denver__CO.part5.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - The Land Of Heroes (1995)

His third album release of 1995, The Land Of Heroes was Jorma Kaukonen's first new solo studio album in a decade. In the meantime, he had been part of reunions of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, but The Land Of Heroes was in the tradition of Quah, Jorma, and Too Hot To Handle, mostly acoustic collections that combined new originals (vocal tunes and instrumentals) with remakes of older originals and covers of songs from the standard folk-blues repertoire. Kaukonen has largely shied away from doing solo work in his career, and even here he worked closely with Michael Falzarano, who co-produced, played guitar and mandolin, and had writing credits on three songs. The one new Kaukonen song with lyrics, "From The Land Of Heroes," was a moving tribute to his Finnish ancestors, making you wish that he would spend more time writing, even though it was nice to hear Airplane remakes like "Trial By Fire" and blues songs by the Reverend Gary Davis. The Falzarano material was pedestrian, however.

Download-Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/143801305/1995_-_The_Land_Of_Heroes__320k_.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - The Land Of Heroes (1995)

Jorma Kaukonen - Magic Two (1995)

A sequel to the 1985 acoustic live album Magic.

Download-Link (Part 1):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143535589/1995_-_Magic_Two__320k_.part1.rar.html

Download-Link (Part 2):

http://rapidshare.com/files/143534674/1995_-_Magic_Two__320k_.part2.rar.html

Tom Constanten & Jorma Kaukonen - Embryonic Journey (1994)

This disc is limited to 5,000 copies and is autographed by both Tom and Jorma (in the picture above you can see Tom's gold signature in the lower left and Jorma's silver 'JK' in the lower right). This is not so much 10 versions of Embryonic Journey but rather 10 takes of Tom and Jorma trying to learn to play it as a duet. To be fair, it actually sounds very good. The acoustic guitar and acoustic piano sound clean and warm. But then to cap it off, the 11th take is a midi version! Aaurgh! What were they thinking?! Midi's ALWAYS sound terrible. So an otherwise okay album closes with a piece of trash. Then there's the time issue. The whole disc is just over 32 minutes, and at least 5 minutes of that is Tom and Jorma yakking -- and not saying anything remarkable. Like this: Tom says, "Here's an idea. Let's try it another way," and Jorma replies, "Okay." Big deal, not much insight there. So when you start with a 32 minute disc, strike the 5 minute midi piece, and strike the 5 minutes of talking, you end up paying full price for 22+ minutes of somewhat repetitive music.

Download-Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/143535581/1994_-_Embryonic_Journey__320k_.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - Too Hot To Handle (1985)

On his first Relix album, Magic, Kaukonen was captured live reprising some of his best-known songs on acoustic guitar. On this followup acoustic release, he turns in a studio collection including some new songs and a few more remakes, among them "Death Don't Have No Mercy." The result doesn't match his solo acoustic debut, which Relix would license from RCA and reissue in 1987, but it reconfirms his guitar abilities, and new songs such as "Too Many Years" are welcome additions to his repertoire.

Download-Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/143536612/1985_-_Too_Hot_To_Handle__320k_.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - Barbeque King (1980)

One year after launching himself as a solo artist with Jorma, Kaukonen returned in a group context, co-billing this record to the rhythm section of drummer John Stench and bassist Denny DeGorio under the name Vital Parts. The result was far more of a pop-rock album than anything Kaukonen had done before, with faster tempos and tighter arrangements. There was even a cover of "Love Is Strange." But no one seems to have told RCA that they had a potentially commercial album on their hands, and when this album failed to sell, Kaukonen and the label parted company. He would not return to the majors until the Jefferson Airplane reunion in 1989.

Download-Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/143535971/1980_-_Barbecue_King__320k_.rar.html

Jorma Kaukonen - Jorma (1979)

Jorma Kaukonen's second solo album was released the year after Hot Tuna broke up and therefore represents his first major statement as a solo artist after nearly 15 years of group work. It was a real solo album, too, featuring Kaukonen alone on various overdubbed guitars, and the music contained his usual mix of folk and blues themes. But it was a big comedown from Quah, the acoustic solo album he'd made during Hot Tuna's tenure, and not even as good as some of Kaukonen's work with Tuna, the band he'd left to make it.

Download-Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/143535995/1979_-_Jorma__320k_.rar.html

By request Jorma Kaukonen biography

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jorma Kaukonen was born and grew up in Washington, D.C., where he first turned to the guitar. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early '60s, playing backup to singer Janis Joplin in local clubs. In 1965, KaukonenJefferson Airplane, which soared to fame in 1967. Though Kaukonen's songs and vocals were not prominently featured in the band, his distinctive guitar-playing was crucial to its sound. became a founding member of

With bassist Jack Casady, Kaukonen formed a spinoff duo from the group in 1970 called Hot Tuna, and this became his primary musical vehicle after Jefferson Airplane split in 1973. Hot Tuna recorded a series of albums on which Kaukonen sang and played guitar through 1978. After that, Kaukonen worked as a soloist and with such groups as Vital Parts (1980), and he recorded occasional albums. Kaukonen reunited with Casady in Hot Tuna during the '80s, and both participated in the 1989 reunion of Jefferson Airplane. A Hot Tuna reunion album appeared the following year.