Editing Jorma Kaukonen (section)

== Guitar style and influences ==

Kaukonen's guitar style is one of the most immediately recognisable in American roots 
music. Its core is the Piedmont and East Coast acoustic blues fingerpicking tradition, 
particularly as practiced by [[Reverend Gary Davis]], whose compositions — including 
"[[Hesitation Blues]]" and "[[Death Don't Have No Mercy]]" — appear repeatedly across 
Hot Tuna's catalogue. He has also drawn on [[Mississippi John Hurt]], [[Elizabeth Cotten]], 
and the broader ragtime-influenced blues revival of the 1960s folk scene.

In his electric work, Kaukonen operates in the tradition of Chicago and Delta blues 
while incorporating the more expansive, improvisational sensibility of the psychedelic era. 
His tone tends toward warmth and clarity rather than aggression, and his solos are 
characterised by melodic development rather than speed or technical display.

He is primarily associated with Gibson hollow and semi-hollow body guitars in the 
electric mode, and with a variety of steel-string acoustics for fingerpicking work. 
His preferred acoustic for much of his career has been a custom instrument built by 
luthier '''Rick Turner'''.