CD Reviews

Jorma Kaukonen

Stars in My Crown | Red House

By BRETT MILANO | April 10, 2007

3.5 Stars

When Hot Tuna played the Somerville Theatre last fall, the line-up included a mandolin player who got almost as much space as guitarist Jorma Kaukonen did, and the set had as much laid-back country as it did blazing guitar jams. Both the mandolinist (Barry Mitterhoff) and the laid-back vibe carry over to Kaukonen’s latest solo effort. But it’s very much the guitarist’s show, with a personal approach to songwriting that Kaukonen seldom displayed in Tuna. “Living in the Moment” and “A Life Well Lived” (both instrumentals that evoke the mood of their titles) reveal where Jorma’s head is these days: this disc exudes contentment, middle-aged and otherwise, and the opening “Heart Temporary” is explicitly about the peace he’s found late in life. Like most of his acoustic albums, it’s pretty much rock-free, but fans of Kaukonen’s elegant fingerpicking won’t be disappointed, and he dips into the Tuna repertoire for the one gritty moment, Lightnin’ Hopkins’s “Come Back Baby.” The base of disc’s second half is traditional gospel that includes a foreboding take on Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” and a joyful version of the traditional title track. Kaukonen has been doing Reverend Gary Davis songs since Hot Tuna’s debut, but here it’s clear the gospel material is coming from the heart.

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Topics: CD Reviews , Johnny Cash, Lightnin' Hopkins, Jorma Kaukonen, More

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