Jorma Kaukonen Talks About His DC Roots

"Jorma Kaukonen, the renowned guitarist for Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, is closely associated with San Francisco's music scene. But Kaukonen actually grew up in Chevy Chase DC, across the street from Lafayette Elementary. Both he and fellow Airplane and Hot Tuna member Jack Casady-who lived nearby-attended Alice Deal and Woodrow Wilson (now Jackson-Reed), and the duo got their professional start here, playing covers in local nightclubs."

"In the late 1950s, Kaukonen began playing guitar, initially drawn to popular music of the time like the Everly Brothers. He frequented the Guitar Shop on Connecticut Avenue, where he got his first Gibson J-45. He took lessons from the owner, Sophocles Papas, a classical guitarist who counted Andrés Segovia as a pal. "I think my taste in music repulsed him," Kaukonen says with a laugh."

"Kaukonen and Casady became friends when they were still in school. They met because a girl he was friends with starting dating Casady's brother, Kaukonen says, "but it became apparent early on that Jack and I had a more profound common interest than dating the girl down the street. And that interest was music." They formed a high-school band called the Triumphs, which began scoring professional gigs. "Washington has always been a musical town," Kaukonen says"

Jorma Kaukonen grew up in Chevy Chase, Washington DC, across from Lafayette Elementary after his family moved to the District in the late 1940s. His father served as an Army linguist on General Douglas MacArthur's staff. He spent time at Broad Branch Market and Fort Reno and worked as a sixth-grade crossing guard. He began playing guitar in the late 1950s, bought a Gibson J-45 at the Guitar Shop on Connecticut Avenue, and took lessons from Sophocles Papas. He and Jack Casady attended local schools, formed the Triumphs, and began scoring professional gigs in neighborhood nightclubs. Kaukonen recently returned for an 85th birthday concert at the Warner Theatre with Casady.

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