Song:Those Gambler's Blues
Album:Blue Country Heart
Of course Jorma Kaukonen is best known as a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and the spinoff group Hot Tuna. He started Hot Tuna because of his love for the blues and his solo career continues that. He was born Dec. 23, 1940 in Washington, DC. Though Jefferson Airplane did perform extended jams, it wasn't enough for Kaukonen and Jack Casady and that's why they started Hot Tuna. As Hot Tuna became more of a traditional rock band, Kaukonen still had the itch to play the blues. He released his first solo album Quah in 1974. When Hot Tuna split up in 1978, Casady formed the band SVT and Kaukonen released the solo album Jorma in 1979. He also formed a band called Vital Parts. This attempt at a punk band flopped miserably. He was dropped by RCA in 1980. Through the 80s and 90s, Kaukonen released several albums on Relix Records and was also involved in Hot Tuna reunions. Veteran producer/A & R exec Yves Beauvais brought Kaukonen to Columbia Records and released Blue Country Heart in 2002. Kaukonen went to Nashville to record covers of depression era standards featuring some of Nashville's top musicians. Those Gambler's Blues was written by the legendary Jimmie Rodgers. Musicians are Sam Bush on mandolin & fiddle, Jerry Douglas on dobro and Byron House on bass. Bela Fleck plays banjo on two songs. Blue Country Heart was nominated for a 2003 Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy. The album is recommended to traditional blues fans. Jorma Kaukonen is currently signed to Red House Records and his new CD River Of Time is scheduled for release next month. Here's the video for Prohibition Blues by Jorma Kaukonen.
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