Jack and Jorma - Matrix - July 22, 1969 (Tuesday)

Sometimes to contemplate a piece of data requires going at least one degree of separation back. Here's a case in point: I was listening to Garcia play the "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds Jam" [a.k.a. "Turnaround, per the 6/28/69 official release] with Jack Casady. And I want to know how this version relates in the big picture, but it's hard to place. So I hook into a piece about which I know a tiny bit, the tune itself, and I work back out. So I arrive at the Jack and Jorma 7/22/69 tape, which I briefly note below.

Jack and Jorma
The Matrix
3138 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
July 22, 1969 (Tuesday)
96 min PNW sbd flac24

(8 tracks, 96:12)
t01. jam [21:22] [0:15] % [0:37]
t02. Jam [11:00] [0:04] % [0:11]
t03. Uncle Sam Blues [8:02] [0:07]
t04. Turnaround [14:58] [0:07]
t05. [0:16] Come Back Baby [7:45] [0:08] %
t06. (1) [0:09] Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning [9:04] [0:05] %
t07. New Song (instrumental jam) [6:27] %
t08. Turnaround [15:34] %

! Band: Jack and Jorma
! personnel: Jorma Kaukonen - guitar, vox;
! personnel: Jack Casady - bass;
! personnel: Joey Covington - drums;
! guest: Peter Kaukonen - guitar (t01 only).

JGMF:

! R: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [ ] = recorded event time. The recorded event time immediately after the song or item name is an attempt at getting the "real" time of the event. So, a timing of [x:xx] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! tunabase: http://www.tunabase.com/setlists/1969/19690722.html.

! db: http://db.etree.org/shn/97837 (Mike Lai / Wayne Gucwa sbd); http://db.etree.org/shn/107240 (unk). Those filesets both have highly questionable lineage. I believe the lineage on the current fileset.

! R: MSR (PA) > R (EP) > R (DC) > R (Pat Lee) @ 3.75 ips > Akai GX636 > Apogee Mini Me (24/96) > Mini Dac > Lynx One soundcard > Wavelab 5.0 > FLAC24. Transfer by Matt Smith (PNW).

! historical:  So the lineage is presumed to go Peter Abrams > Ed Perlstein > DC > Pat Lee. It's a nice tape, bright-to-hissy relative to some of the muddy Matrix Tapes out there. This has been edited down pretty tightly, with splices between every track. It's really hard to say if this is the show they played, or a show they played on another date, or pieces of various shows, or what. This material has long also circulated dated "4/22/69", but I presume that's a slip-of-the-pen somewhere along the line. Tunabase lists it as 7/22/69 without comment, and shows no mention of "4/22/69". Same goes for the Chicken (http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm). I'd like to know whether there was any hard evidence for the dating, but I don't have any particular reason to question Jack and Jorma at the Matrix on Tuesday, July 22nd.

! band: As I understand it, the name Hot Tuna would not come into usage until October 1969. There are lots of ways to characterize a "band" name. I will just say "Jack and Jorma" because that's how I think of it. Happy to use a formulation more preferred by Hot Tuna types.

! P: I think these guys are quite amazing, but I am nearly at a loss as to how to describe them. Amazing musicianship, individually and collaboratively. I don't normally have much to say about drumming, but Joey Covington is stellar here. It's no wonder Jack & Jorma grabbed him up. Dude can hang. Jack & Jorma are Jack and Jorma, virtuosi in their prime. They are just playing for hours. The jams are all excellent, though I am partial to the "3/5 of a Mile Jam". I find myself less compelled to listen closely enough and to note this stuff, but a minute-by-minute musical breakdown could probably be instructive. That's for someone else to do.

! personnel: I only hear a second guitarist (Peter Kaukonen) in t01. I have designated him as a guest.

! P: t01 starts off a slow jam. Goes lots of places, as these Jack & Jorma jams tended to.

! P: t02 this might be one of the named jams known to Airplane cognoscenti.

! R: t03-t04 I can't hear whether there's a tape splice in there. I presume so.

! R: t04 fade to splice @ 7:02, repeated section?

! t06 (1) Jorma: "This next song is a Revered Gary Davis tune. It's called "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning'."

! P: t08 "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds Jam", called "Turnaround" on the official 6/28/69 release, is outrageous. Jack leading the way in the late 3-minute mark. In the 5-minute range, Jack is cutting trail where no rock bassist had ever ventured. Jorma's solo in the 6-minute mark is harsh and potent. In a kind of Pooneil space for a bit. @ 7:44 tempo change, slow it down.