Customer Reviews

Blue Country Heart

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Blue Country Heart
Jorma Kaukonen

Jorma Kaukonen's new CD, "Blue Country Heart", (Columbia Records) is warm, passionate and extremely enjoyable. Jorma's numerous fans (as well as newcomers) will find this CD essential listening. Jorma's gentle vocals and acoustic finger-picking guitar are right up front in the mix and the guest musicians who contribute dobro, mandolin, fiddle & banjo add a superb dimension. The old-timey songs swing, and are guaranteed to keep you grooving. Jorma, a legendary guitarist and member of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, was a founding member of Jefferson Airplane. The Airplane ascended to the Top of the Charts in 1967 (with Grace Slick's vocals) on the hit singles Somebody To Love and White Rabbit. Jefferson Airplane performed celebrated concerts at the Fillmore East (NY) and Fillmore West (SF), played on the Ed Sullivan show and were on the cover of Life Magazine in 1968. Jefferson Airplane, before mutating into Jefferson Starship, played all the major concert events of the 1960's, including: Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock (1969) and Altamont. Jorma left the Airplane in 1972 to pursue a more roots/blues-based form of music with "Hot Tuna" and also began a career as a solo performer. On "Blue Country Heart", Jorma Kaukonen shines on 13 "old timey" songs, including "Just Because", which was made famous by Elvis Presley in 1955 on the Sun Records Sessions. The opening song, "Blue Railroad Train", was originally recorded by The Delmore Brothers, who are one of the architects of early blues and rock. "Blue Country Heart" was recorded in Nashville in the Spring of 2002. All the songs were recorded live (no overdubs) and many selections feature mandolinist Sam Bush, dobro player Jerry Douglas, and banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck Jorma is a master at fusing country and bluegrass with his own traditional acoustic guitar style, which makes for a delightful "down-home" listening experience. George Walsh

I assume any reader of this page will probably know who Jorma Kaukonen is. (Just in case, though: it's pronounced YORE-ma KOW-ko-nen, he used to play with the Jefferson Airplane, and he founded Hot Tuna with his pal and co-Airplaner, bassist Jack Casady.)

I don't think he's capable of recording bad music, so you can't go wrong with any of his stuff. But this CD is probably the best one he's released in two, maybe three decades.

The plot: Jorma's settin' around Fur Peace Ranch here in Ohio, playin' some old-timey country blooze with some friends. (Actually, the CD was recorded in Nashville. But there are lots of photos from the ranch, and the music has that nice front-porch-jam-among-friends feel.) The outcome: a laid-back hippie hoedown.

Still not sold? All right -- the friends Jorma is jamming with are Jerry Douglas (resophonic guitar), Sam Bush (mandolin and backing vocals), and Byron House (bass), and Bela Fleck sits in with his banjo on two of the tunes. _Any one_ of these folks would be sufficient to guarantee a maximally cool CD. But _all five together_ . . . oh, my. I'm just glad I lived to see the day, that's all.

(On the off-chance that you haven't heard of these people, search for their names at your earliest convenience and prepare to hear some of the best music you've ever heard. Also check New Grass Revival and Strength in Numbers, both of which feature some of the same personnel. While you're at it, look for David Grisman, Tony Rice, and any of the various acoustic releases by Jerry Garcia and his friends -- not only the Dead but also Almost Acoustic and Old & In The Way.)

Anyway, they just don't come any cooler than Jorma; on the Coolness Meter, he registers somewhere around Willie Nelson and J.J. Cale. He's very good at this acoustic stuff and he's been doing it for a long time. Put this baby on your CD player and set yerself down on the porch.

This is Jorma's best album since his great album "Quah" from the '70s. The singing, playing, material and production are top notch. EVERY song is a gem.If you are a fan of Jorma, you must have this CD. If you're not familiar with Jorma Kaukonen's unique approach to American roots music but you enjoy acoustic, folk or bluegrass, you should add this disc to your collection because it blows away all other new recordings in the aforementioned genres.It's impossible for me to describe the music on this CD. You must hear it for yourself. It's pure musical magic that is very rare these days. Although I'm a longtime fan of Jorma's work, I would be floored by this music even if I had never heard of him.The time has come for the world to know Jorma!

Anyone familiar with Jorma Kaukonen will know that he has been playing this type of music off and on -- mostly on -- for many many years. Here he not only gets to display his own virtuosity, but he can do so in a way that is true to the music, something that wasn't always the case when he played in rock-oriented bands. Blessedly teamed with stellar bluegrass musicians, the band comes off as sharp and confident in this first-class recording. The sound comes through clear and pure, but not "produced", all the while maintaining an aura of witnessing a bunch of friends sitting on the porch, jamming on a Sunday afternoon. This recording is the closest thing I've heard to date that captures the essence of old-time musicians and musicianship back before music became an industry and a commodity.

PS: I see a previous post that disparages this recording based on the color of the artist's skin. I'm not sure of his motive, but the inference is that this record should be dismissed based on a belief that only one race 'owns' or can 'legitimatly' play the blues. The blues may have started in the Mississippi Delta, but it borrowed freely and cross-fertilized from all popular music at the time. Whether the idea for the blues originated from specific conditions by a specific group is irrelevent -- the blues represents the blending of creative forces throughout the country. Just as the blues have evolved past its roots as field chants, it has become first an American institution, and now an international one. Any musician can tell you that where ever he goes on this planet, if the people have heard about America, they want to hear him play the blues.

Jorma Kaukonen has said in interviews that this was the kind of music that got him started on guitar--that in fact, his father made a deal with him that if he learned to play 2 songs, the elder Kaukonen would buy his son a guitar. Both the songs Jorma learned were old-timey country songs (I recall one of them as being "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy"), so it would appear he has come full-circle.

And how beautifully so--this album so moved me that, by the time I got to "Free From the Chain Gang Now," I had tears in my eyes. Nothing flashy, nothing showy--just Jorma and a few of his best professional friends (including Sam Bush and Bela Fleck) having a Sunday-afternoon jam on the porch. It could be rural Tennessee, a house in the Catskills of upstate New York (where I'm now writing this from), the Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio, even a suburban bungalow in Topanga Canyon, California; whatever the setting, you fully expect to look out on your porch and see Jorma and the boys out there, jamming away and inviting you to come listen and maybe even sing a few songs with them...real easy-like, friendly smiles all round.

I, for one, would happily accept that invitation. So will you.

A musicians musician back on a major label, GOD BLESS YOU JORMA & KEEP IT ON! This is truly a GREAT album with a great song selection along with the finest musicians around. Recorded in Nashville in an excellent studio with great sound reproduction. Its great in all aspects. Just 1 question, What Are They Doing In Heaven?
This album is up for a Grammy and it sure deserves one!!!
We all love you Jorma and keep up the great work.
And they say GOD isn't performing miracles today!!

A Must Buy For ALL!!!

This is a stunning collection, culled from some very familiar and obtuse sources. The musicianship is flawless and from the opening notes of "Blue Railroad Train", you know you are in the company of masters. One of the most impressive cd's I have heard in years.

This is the best record Jorma has put out in years. Really really strong. I just saw him in concert in New York doing these songs. The recording quality is excellent, the musicianship not showy, solid and understated at times. great arrangements.

This is Jorma's best CD since the original acoustic hot Tuna -- seriously -- he picks a small, solid band, and they just cut loose for 13 songs. No posing or strutting, just an hour of listening to one of the greatest guitarists ever play his current favorite songs with a few friends. The playing rivals Doc Watson, but the melancholy tone is all Jorma's. Great stuff.

Before this album, I had never heard Jorma Kaukonen play except for some early Jefferson Airplane stuff. I bought this on a whim, since I enjoyed Brooks Williams' cover of 'Water Song,' and couldn't find that song at the time.

The album blew me away. This is great stuff! Everybody on the album plays with energy, style, and amazing talent. Jorma Kaukonen is probably as good on the guitar as Tony Rice! The choice of songs, and the subtle twists on the folk traditions remind me of Doc Watson too, but the performances have a much more modern sensibility.

Also, this album has the best sound quality of any album I own, period. I have it on regular CD and play it in a regular CD player, and the sound quality is obviously far superior to any other new release albums I've heard. I bet the SACD release is even better.

This album was stolen from me a few weeks ago, and I'm getting nostalgic just writing this. This is a terrific CD for fans of traditional American music, and I highly recommend it. I'll definitely be checking out Jorma Kaukonen's other stuff.