’60s Rock Icon Set to Take the Stage With Special Guests for His 85th Birthday

The 84-year-old rock legend—who co-found­ed the icon­ic bands Jef­fer­son Air­planein 1965 and Hot Tuna in 1969—is sched­uled to per­form four con­certs as part of his 85th Birth­day Cel­e­bra­tion, Ulti­mate Clas­sic Rockreport­ed.

A host of spe­cial guests will join the rock­er, who turns 85 on Decem­ber 23, includ­ingDerek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, and Steve Ear­le. For­mer Jef­fer­son Air­plane band­mate and Hot Tuna co-founder Jack Casady is also set to take the stage, per the out­let.

Kaukonen—who was induct­ed into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a Jef­fer­son Air­plane member—has plen­ty of shows planned for fall 2025. In addi­tion to the afore­men­tioned spe­cial guests, Justin Guip, Ross Gar­ren, and John Hurl­but will join the icon on tour

• Octo­ber 24 – Klein­hans Music Hall in Buf­fa­lo, New York – Acoustic Hot Tunawith Guip
• Octo­ber 25 – Smith Cen­ter for the Arts in Gene­va, New York – Acoustic Hot Tuna with Guip and Gar­ren
• Octo­ber 27 – Para­mount The­atre in Rut­land, Ver­mont – Acoustic Hot Tuna with Guip and Gar­ren
• Octo­ber 29 – Bar­davon in Pough­keep­sie, New York – Acoustic Hot Tuna with Guip and Gar­ren
• Octo­ber 30 – The Grand Opera House in Wilm­ing­ton, Delaware – Acoustic Hot Tuna with Guip and Gar­ren
• Novem­ber 1 – The Warn­er The­atre in Wash­ing­ton, D.C. – Kauko­nen with spe­cial guests
• Novem­ber 4 – The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michi­gan –  Acoustic Hot Tuna with Guip and Gar­ren
• Novem­ber 5 – North Shore Cen­ter for the Per­form­ing Arts in Skok­ie, Illi­nois – Acoustic Hot Tuna with Guip and Gar­ren
• Novem­ber 29 – Carnegie Hall in New York City, New York – Kauko­nen with spe­cial guests
• Decem­ber 5 – Mason­ic Audi­to­ri­um in San Fran­cis­co, Cal­i­for­nia – Kauko­nen with spe­cial guests
• Decem­ber 13 – Para­mount in Den­ver, Col­orado – Kauko­nen with spe­cial guests
• Decem­ber 18 – Natalie’s in Colum­bus, Ohio – Kauko­nen and Hurl­but

When Will Jorma KaukonenRelease His New Album?

In addi­tion to his upcom­ing tour, Kauko­nen is also gear­ing up for the release of his new live album, Wabash Avenue.

As Ulti­mate Clas­sic Rock report­ed, the project is part of an exclu­sive vinyl for Record Store Day. It will be released on Black Fri­day 2025, which falls on Novem­ber 28.

Accord­ing to Record Store Day, the album is com­prised of unre­leased tracks from 1965, which have been “restored from the orig­i­nal reel to reel mas­ter tape” after they were “recent­ly found” in a fam­i­ly stor­age bin by Kaukonen’s wife, Vanes­sa Kauko­nen.

Wabash Avenue “is a must have for all Jef­fer­son Air­plane, Hot Tuna and Jor­ma Col­lec­tors,” Record Store Day also states.

The project includes a “bonus inter­view” between Kauko­nen and Vanes­sa, while the dou­ble vinyl pack­age con­tains “an OBI side spine, gate­fold album jack­et with two pock­ets, full col­or print­ed inner sleeves with nev­er before seen pho­tos from 1965 and Gold/Black & Black/Gold cloud-effect col­or vinyl, which are Jorma’s birth­day cel­e­bra­tion col­ors!”