Peter Kaukonen (born Benson Lee Kaukonen on September 23, 1945) is an American guitarist/ multi-instrumentalist/songwriter based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the younger brother of Jorma Kaukonen from

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

and

Hot Tuna Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the ...

. Peter Kaukonen has played, toured, and recorded with Jefferson Airplane,

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

, Hot Tuna, Johnny Winter,

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. ''Rolling Stone'' placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 ...

, Terry Allen, Ruthann Friedman (author of "Windy"), as well as his own band, Black Kangaroo. Kaukonen plays both acoustic and electric guitars, acoustic and electric bass,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, bouzouki, lap steel guitar and piano. His influences are Chicago and

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

, fingerpicking guitar, New Age-style acoustic music, rock and roll, jazz and classical music. Kaukonen's songwriting spans 40 years—from early power trio songs written for Black Kangaroo and covered by Jefferson Airplane to instrumental compositions. He attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Discography

with Black Kangaroo *''Black Kangaroo'' – Grunt Records FTR-1006 (1972) *''Black Kangaroo'' – Wounded Bird 106 (2007) *"Prisoner" / "Dynamo Snackbar" – Grunt Records single 65-0507 (1972) *"Up or Down" / "That's a Good Question" – Grunt Records single 65-0510 (1972) Solo *''Going Home'' – Veldt 1001 (2004) *''Beyond Help'' – Veldt 1002 (2004) *''The Archives 1976 - 2006'' – Veldt 1003 (2006) *''Traveller'' – Veldt 1004 (2007) Guest appearances *''

Blows Against the Empire ''Blows Against the Empire'' is a concept album by Paul Kantner, released under the name Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship. It is the first album to use the "Starship" moniker, a name which Kantner and Grace Slick would later use for the band J ...

'' – RCA Records LSP-4448 (by Paul Kantner and

) (1970) *'' Sunfighter'' – Grunt Records FTR-1001 (by Paul Kantner and Grace Slick) (1971) *'' Be What You Want To'' – Polydor PD-5047 (by

) (1973) *'' Manhole'' – Grunt Records BFL1-0347 (by Grace Slick) (1974) *'' Juarez'' – Fate Records (by Terry Allen) (1975) *''

'' – Epic Records 90036 (by

) (1989)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaukonen, Peter 1945 births Living people American multi-instrumentalists Jewish American musicians Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Hot Tuna members Jefferson Starship members American people of Finnish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent 21st-century American Jews Stanford University alumni