Red House Records

For his last two recording projects (2009’s River Of Time and 2011’s Steady As She Goes with Hot Tuna), Jorma Kaukonen set up camp in Levon Helm’s Barn in Woodstock, NY. He made use of the vibe and magic of Helm’s legendary home studio and the results were amazing.

Kaukonen takes a different approach with his brand-new solo album Ain’t In No Hurry : he’s basically moved the essence of The Barn to his very own studio at Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio … and the results are just as amazing.

The recipe was as follows:

Take a big helping of Barn all-stars – including master-of-anything-with-strings Larry Campbell (Levon’s wingman for the last chapter of his musical career); Campbell’s wife Teresa Williams on just-right backing vocals; and Justin Guip, who divided his talents between recording the sessions and channeling his late mentor’s spirit on the drum kit. (Not that Guip ever imitates Levon Helm – no one could; there’s just a loose-as-a-funky-gooseness to his playing that is a pleasant echo from the past.)

Add to that some old buddies of Jorma’s: Myron Hart sits in on acoustic bass, meshing with Guip like they’d been doing it for years and years. Barry Mitterhoff’s mandolin adds sweetness and light to several tunes. (Campbell also plays mandolin on this album; the fact that you have to check the liner notes to see who’s doing what at any given time is a tribute to the talents of both.) And, of course, Jorma’s soul-brother-with-the-big-bass-tone Jack Casady makes an appearance, applying rumblehoney to the extended introspective jams of “Bar Room Crystal Ball”, a newly-penned Kaukonen tune.

Jorma himself is in fine form on this mix of covers (both familiar and not-so) and originals: his casual-but-soulful vocal style continues to serve him well and his acoustic fingerpicking remains the sound of a master at work. (Kudos to Guip, who catches the performances of all hands with great warmth and natural-feeling sonic depth.)

Classics such as “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” and “Brother Can You Spare A Dime” nestle comfortably alongside Jorma’s own “The Other Side Of The Mountain”, “In My Dreams” and “Seasons In The Field”. The aforementioned “Bar Room Crystal Ball” can’t help but be a centerpiece of the album: Kaukonen’s lyrics are a study in laying-it-all-out-there reflection that avoids getting maudlin (aided by the magnificent flash of Campbell’s pedal steel work). Williams’ vocals add the perfect edge to Michael Falzarano’s “Where There’s Two There’s Trouble”; Kaukonen and Campbell applied new music to Woody Guthrie’s lyrics for “Suffer Little Children To Come Unto Me” (the title may sound black, but the tune itself is a hoot); and if R. Crumb ever drew up a comic strip featuring a doctor for Zap Comix , “The Terrible Operation” could’ve been the soundtrack for it.

The album closer “Seasons In The Field” definitely seals the deal: listen to it for the soulful vocals; listen to it for the guitar work (this one’s just Kaukonen on his own); listen to it for the memories and the honesty.

Here’s the thing about Jorma Kaukonen: he was making music with an old soul back nearly 60 years ago.

The man may be getting older, but that soul is as deep as it ever was – and so’s the music.

Ain’t In No Hurry indeed.

*****

Brian Robbins reads his old dog-eared Zap Comix over at www.brian-robbins.com.