We opted for Thanksgiving at Otto’s… we’ll have turkey at the Tabernacle today.

I wanted kassler ripchen…

And I got it… and more!

So much to be thankful for on this day… and every day!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Indeed, it’s been too long since Hot Tuna played the good old Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA at Thanksgiving… Gotta not forget this.

Here is our set list:

Hot Tuna 44, 2015
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
The Keswick Theater
Glenside, Pennsylvania
Wednesday, November 25, 2015

First Set:
1. Dime For Beer
2. Ain’t In No Hurry
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Heart Temporary
5. Watch The North Wind Rise
6. Sea Child
7. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
8. Barbeque King
9. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
10. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
11. River Of Time
12. I Know You Rider
Second Set:
1. True Religion
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
3. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
4. In My Dreams
5. Come Back Baby
6. I See The LIght
7. San Francisco Bay Blues
8. Good Shepherd
9. In The Kingdom
10. Bar Room Crystal Ball
11. Water Song
12. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
13. Encore: Genesis

Jack and I had a swell time… got to catch up with some old friends including our old pal Bob Steeler. Always good to see you Bob…

Today is Thanksgiving and I personally have so much to be thankful for. My wonderful family, my relative good health and my place in the Universe.
I know this is a ‘Pie In The Sky’ prayer… but may no one go hungry tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone…

This is one of those rare moments when words fail me… Jack and I thought this was one of our finest nights ever and we would like to thank:
G.E.Smith
Larry Campbell
Rachael Price
Teresa Williams
Justin Guip

We couldn’t have done it without you…

More will be revealed… in the meantime… here is our set list:

Hot Tuna 43, 2015
Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
& Justin Guip
And
Rachael Price, Teresa Williams, Jeff Pehrson
Larry Campbell, and G.E. Smith

First Set With The Electric Trio:
1. True Religion
2. Ain’t In No Hurry
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Ode To Billy Dean
5. Can’t Get Satisfied
6. In The Kingdom
7. Watch The North Wind Rise
8. Bowlegged Woman
9. 99 Year Blues
10. Rock Me Baby
11. Funky #7
12. Hit Single #1

Second Set With The Whole Gang:
1. 3/5ths Of A Mile In 10 Seconds featuring Jeff Pehrson
2. Greasy Heart featuring Rachael Price
3. Good Shepherd featuring Jorma
4. White Rabbit featuring Teresa Williams
5. Lawman featuring Rachael Price
6. Plastic Fantastic Lover featuring Jeff Pehrson
7. Somebody To Love featuring Teresa Williams
8. Eskimo Blue Day featuring Rachael Price
9. Come Back Baby featuring Jorma & the gang
11. Feel So Good featuring Rachael Price & Teresa Williams
12. Encore: Volunteers… the gang
13. Encore 2: Sugaree… all hands in!

What a grand way to mark my 75th Birthday… a month early, but I’ll take it. I love you guys… thanks so much!

A short break for Thanksgiving and then Jack and I will be at the Keswick in Glenside, PA.

Life really is that good… much of the time!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Foto by Sally Shapiro

Foto by Sally Shapiro

Foto by Sally Shapiro

Sally Shapiro

Foto by Sally Shapiro

The Beacon… always an amazing place to see and hear music… and friends…

I’ve known John Hammond for almost as long as I’ve known Jack… 55 years, more or less. We both got our musical identities started back at Antioch College in 1960 and we’ve been friends ever since. To have him join Jack and myself for the first three songs of this show, was an honor and a pleasure. The three of us sure go back to the beginning of it all. Played some good music too. Thanks so much John!

Hot Tuna 42, 2015
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
& Justin Guip
Plus The Modern Quintet With
Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams
Special Guest John Hammond
The Beacon Theater
New York City
Friday, November 20, 2015

First Set:
1. Hesitation Blues with John Hammond
2. Come Back Baby with John Hammond
3. Death Don’t Have No Mercy with John Hammond
4. Serpent Of Dreams with Justin Guip*
5. Watch The North Wind Rise with Justin Guip*
6. Can’t Get Satisfied with Justin Guip
7. Ode To Billy Dean with Justin Guip
8. In The Kingdom* with Justin Guip
9. 99 Year Blues* with Justin Guip
10. Bowlegged Woman with Justin Guip
11. Hit Single #1 with Justin Guip
Second Set:
1. I See The Light Larry on Fiddle
2. Children Of Zion with Teresa & Larry on mandolin
3. Where There’s Two There’s Trouble with Teresa & Larry on D-18
4. Mourning Interrupted
5. Rock Me Baby
6. Wade In The Water with Teresa
7. Bar Room Crystal Ball with Teresa
8. Water Song
9. Big River with Teresa & Larry
10. Good Shepherd with Teresa
11. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning with Teresa
12. Funky #7
13. Encore: Sugaree with Teresa
Larry plays on all songs in this set!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

A great time was had by us… that’s for sure!

Now for tonight…

Tuesday we moseyed up to Justin Guip’s Studio and digs in Red Hook for some Rehearsal. We worked Tuesday and part of Wednesday and then came down to The City in time to have dinner with Ginger, Montana, Nessa, Izze, Jack Casady and Michael and Claudia Falzarano. Sort of a Faux early birthday dinner with Family and Friends…

Then on Thursday we New York’ed it for a bit and when evening rolled around, Jack, Nessa, Phil and I beat it on over to the East Side for our chat with Jim Clash at the Explorers Club.

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Jim Clash is a really great guy, and a fine journalist. A true adventurer himself, I was a little awestruck and humbled hen he invited Jack and myself to be interviewed at this fine institution. As it turned out, a fine time was had by all.

Foto by Jim Clash

Before the event started we had an amazing personal tour with Will Roseman the Executive Director of the Explorers Club. Words cannot adequately express what a a truly awesome experience this was!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

A very interesting audience with lots of great dialogue and questions… All things considered, a grand evening! Thanks Jim… and thanks to the Explorers Club!

Now it’s almost time to head on over to the Beacon to start the process that will allow us to hit the stage later this evening!

Good times!

Well, we just had our final weekend at the Fur Peace Ranch which featured Jack Casady, Barry Mitterhoff and Tom Feldman.

Eighteen years… that’s a long time no matter how you cut the cookie… but as Mom would say, ‘We’re still here.’ Tom has been a real addition to our teaching staff. In addition to his classes, he has been helping me with mine, and we all love that. Thanks Tom!

With artists like Tom in the mix… the future is certainly secured insofar as music is concerned.

Jerry B. stopped by to visit the new digs.

My other pal Jerry S. was there for the concert… and of course, he drove the Mule ferrying people to and from the parking lot.

The concert Saturday night was Acoustic Hot Tuna and we had Barry back with us for the show which was great. Here is our set list:

Hot Tuna 41, 2015
The Acoustic Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
& Barry Mitterhoff
Fur Peace Station
Darwin, Ohio
Saturday, November 14, 2015

First Set:
1. Dime For Beer
2. Ain’t In No Hurry
3. Hesitation Blues
4. River Of Time
5. Blue Railroad Train
6. Sea Child
7. Full Go Round
8. The Terrible Operation
9. In my Dreams
10. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
11. San Francisco Bay Blues
Second Set:
1. True Religion
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
3. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
4. Where There’s Two There’s Trouble
5. Vicksburg Stomp
6. Come Back Baby
7. I See The Light
8. Good Shepherd
9. Bar Room Crystal Ball
10. Water Song
11. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
12. Encore: Embryonic Journey

This was a really delightful show for me… true good times. Thanks guys!

Foto by Carol Doherty

Monday Tom, the class and I finished up Watch The North Wind Rise and everyone broke for home while Myron and Jack and I with lots of help from Vanessa and Michael, loaded the bus.

We left Darwin about 1800 last night and got to Upstate New York for a rehearsal at about 0900 this morning. Not it’s time to get together with Justin for some electric rehearsal…

Twang…

The Big Guy is going to miss me… and I’m going to miss home but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do and what’s right is right…

Onward…

The parents of my generation served almost to a man and a woman in WWII. Uncle Tarmo seen here on a bicycle somewhere in Italy. I never met Uncle Tarmo. There’s a picture of him somewhere in a box in my garage where he poses with Leo the MGM lion… He trained animals figure skated and was an artist in civilian life. He fought his way from North Africa, through Sicily and Italy. He made it through the war but died in a VA Hospital in Memphis from lung cancer in 1945. We have his flag my Grandma left me. He is buried in a National Cemetery in Los Angeles.

I got to know Pentti quite well when I moved to the Bay Area in California in 1962. He was the first one to welcome into what would really become the starting point of my life. There are no pictures of him in uniform that I know of. He was a reluctant warrior… a gentle soul who carried a flame thrower on his back as his outfit fought its way through the South Pacific until we liberated the Philippines. He never talked about his service though I could see there was pride in his memory. There was pain too… he never really recovered from that experience. Today we would probably call it PTSD. In his 50’s he went into a VA Hospital for what seemed like a minor operation and it seemed as if living was just too painful for him. He never came out. I have missed him every day since then. He was my friend.

My Dad, Jorma Sr., was the oldest of the three boys. Born in 1910 with eyesight that needed correction, he tried to enlist and they wouldn’t take him. Mom laboriously helped him with eye exercises until he could pass the physical. He went into the Navy and because of his gift with languages, attended the Navy Language School which was in Ann Arbor in those days. He went to Japan after the surrender to MacArthur in ’45. After the fire bombing of Tokyo there was little left standing save plumbing and safes. My Dad’s guys cracked the safes, and Dad translated the documents they found. Dad would up spending many years in the Far East and would up a Foreign Service Officer. I am so grateful that Dad and I lived long enough to become real friends. He loved Vanessa and he would have loved the kids. I miss him calling me ‘The Kid.’

Jorma Sr. and Uncle Pen are buried in Inglewood Cemetery in LA next to my Mother Beatrice and my Grandparents Ida and Jaako. They rest together in the flight path of LA International Airport.

There is an unbroken line of veterans who have served this great country. I will just mention two of my dearest friends, Jerry S. and Chuck F. Thanks guys… and thanks to all the brothers and sister I will never meet…

I honor you all!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

I blew into California for some solo shows and one with Jack for the Owsley Stanley Foundation benefit at the Great American Music Hall. My first show was the Rendezvous and it was a swell way to start this little run. When Myron was setting me up for this gig, the jack in my ‘acoustic’ guitar took a poop… but there was a great little music store in town on Oroville Ave….Herreid Music. They drove a new pickup over to the gig and Myron put it in… game on! Thanks guys!!!!

Jorma Kaukonen 45, 2015
Solo
The Rendezvous
Chico, California
Friday, November 5, 2015

First Set:
1. Dime For Beer
2. Ain’t In No Hurry
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Where There’s Two There’s Trouble
5. Barbeque King
6. Sea Child
7. Full Go Round
8. The Terrible Operation
9. Let Us get Together Right Down Here
10. How Long Blues
11. In My Dreams
12. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
Second Set:
1. True Religion
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
3. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
4. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
5. San Francisco Bay Blues
6. Come Back Baby
7. I see The Light
8. River Of Time
9. Good Shepherd
10. That’ll Never Happen No More
11. Water Song
12. Encore: Bar Room Crystal Ball

Then it was off to San Raphael to Phil’s joint, the Terrapin Crossroads.

Jorma Kaukonen 46, 2015
Solo
Terrapin Crossroads
San Raphael, California
Friday, November 6, 2015

First Set:
1. True Religion
2. Ain’t In No Hurry
3. Candy Man
4. Where There’s Two There’s Trouble
5. Hesitation Blues
6. Barbeque King
7. Living In The Moment
8. Sea Child
9. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
10. How Long Blues
11. San Francisco Bay Blues
12. Death Don’t Have No Mrcy
13. I Know You Rider
Second Set:
1. Dime For Beer
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
3. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
4. The Terrible Operation
5. Come Back Baby
6. I See The Light
7. I Am The Light Of This World
8. Good Shepherd
9. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
10. Whining Boy Blues
11. Genesis
12. Water Song
13. Encore: Bar Room Crystal Ball

Then I met up with Jack in San Francisco for the Owsley Stanley Foundation Fundraiser.

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Foto by Bob Minkin

Foto by Bob Minkin

Hot Tuna 40, 2015
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
Owsley Stanley Digital Benefit
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco, California
Saturday, November 7, 2015

1. Ain’t In No Hurry
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
3. Where There’s Two There’s Trouble
4. Barbeque King
5. Sea Child
6. Good Shepherd
7. San Francisco Bay Blues
8. In My Dreams
9. I See The Light
10. 99 Year Blues
11. Hesitation Blues… with Steve Kimock
12. Come Back Baby… with Steve Kimock
13. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here… with Steve Kimock
14. Death Don’t Have No Mercy… with Steve Kimoch
15. I Know You Rider… with Steve Kimock
16. Encore: How Long Blues… with Steve Kimock

Then it was down to Santa Cruz for two Jorma shows at the Kuumbwah Jazz.

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Jorma Kaukonen 47, 2015
Solo
Kuumbwa Jazz
Santa Cruz, California
Sunday, November 8, 2015

First Show:
1. True Religion
2. Ain’t In No Hurry
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Where There’s Two There’s Trouble
5. Barbeque King
6. The Terrible Operation
7. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
8. River Of Time
9. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
10. I See The Light
11. Thing That Might Have Been
12. That’ll Never Happen No More
13. How Long Blues
14. Full Go Round
15. Candy Man
16. Keep your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
17. Encore: Re-Enlistment Blues
Second Show:
1. Dime For Beer
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
3. The Other Side Of The Mountain
4. Heart Temporary
5. Come Back Baby
6. Sea Child
7. Good Shepherd
8. San Francisco Bay Blues
9. Death Don’t have No Mercy
10. Whining Boy Blues
11. I Know You Rider
12. Water Song
13. Encore: Bar Room Crystal Ball

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Well, we are in our new home, and memories… both good and bad… will always live in our hearts. The sight of this fall sunset on my own road… well, it’s not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all!

Looking down off my deck is one of my neighbor’s fields and the Shade River.

I’m writing this from California… and as beautiful as California is (and it is beautiful!) I’m looking forward to being home tomorrow!

Back at Hillside Farm, if there is ever a second coming, a lot of dogs and cats are going to rise up out of our old back yard. They will sleep where they lie as long as they are allowed to… but I took my stone to the FPR with us.

Those who have moved on… four footed and two, will live in our hearts… for a long time!

Last week was an election and as an American, I wouldn’t miss an election.

This will be the last time we vote in Scipio Township… from now on it’s Bedford… I love small town American. Indeed, it has been my home for a quarter of a century.

Well, it’s time to head down to Santa Cruz for two shows at the Kuumbwa Jazz.

I’ve been thinking a lot of late… so after I catch up on the diary of the last three gigs, I’m going to devote myself to some thoughtful writing… in the meantime… onward!