One of the most important guitarists of the rock era with a body of work lasting over three decades. His brilliant finger-picked fretwork and songwriting, a compelling blend of rock, blues, folk and country influences, has distinguished Jefferson Airplane and its equally legendary (and still active) spinoff band Hot Tuna.

Born in Washington, DC to a Finnish American father, employed by the US foreign service, and a Jewish American mother, Kaukonen grew up overseas but returned to the US at age 16. He immersed himself in the old-time country of the Carter Family and Roy Acuff, but was soon attracted by the blues of artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. He learned to play guitar and teamed up with Jack Casady while still in high school around 1957 to start a rock band named The Triumphs.

He departed Washington for studies at Antioch College where friend Ian Buchanan taught him fingerstyle guitar playing. Buchanan also introduced Kaukonen to the music of Reverend Gary Davis, whose songs have remained important in Kaukonen's repertoire up to the present.

In 1962, Kaukonen moved to the San Francisco Bay area and enrolled at Santa Clara University. During this time he taught guitar lessons in a small music store in San Jose. As a self-described blues purist, Kaukonen never had any ambition to play in a rock band. He played as a solo act in coffee houses and can be heard accompanying a young Janis Joplin on acoustic guitar on an historic 1964 recording.

Invited to attend a Jefferson Airplane rehearsal by founding member Paul Kantner, Kaukonen became sucked in by the technology and effects available to electric guitar. It was Kaukonen who suggested the name for the band, from his nickname of Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane (for blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson). Kaukonen's electric guitar work with the Airplane was distinctive and widely emulated by other Bay Area guitarists. Though never a prolific singer and songwriter during this period, Kaukonen contributed some distinctive material and Embryonic Journey showcased his fingerstyle acoustic guitar virtuosity.

In 1969-70, Kaukonen and Casady formed Hot Tuna, a spin-off group that allowed them to play as long as they liked, while fellow band members Grace Slick and Paul Kantner took a year off in preparation for the birth of their daughter, China. Hot Tuna lived on in various forms, ranging from acoustic blues duo to wild electric rock and even metal band, to the present day.

In 1974, Kaukonen recorded the first and most successful of several solo albums, Quah. Produced by Casady, this album contains some of Kaukonen's most deft fingerpicking work.

Kaukonen toured vigorously throughout the 1970s in both the US and Europe, but with Hot Tuna's break up in 1978, the first phase of the band's career ended. Casady left to form the new wave band SVT, while Kaukonen released his second solo album, Jorma, a mix of electric guitar and acoustic fingerstyle in 1979. Meanwhile, he had formed the band Vital Parts.

Kaukonen continued playing as a solo artist throughout the 1980s. As in his Hot Tuna days, he played very long sets, usually beginning with an hour-long acoustic set followed by a long intermission and then a two hour electric set, sometimes accompanied by bass and drums.

Hot Tuna themselves reformed in the mid 1980s. At a 1987 Hot Tuna performance, Kaukonen surprised fellow Airplane alumnus Kantner, who was sitting in, with a surprise appearance by his estranged lover Grace Slick. The success of this performance helped to pave the way for a Jefferson Airplane reunion tour and record in 1989.

Two notable outside projects Kaukonen played on were the David Crosby album If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971) and Warren Zevon's Transverse City (1989).

In 1999 he played several gigs with Phil Lesh and Friends. In 2000, Kaukonen appeared with Georgia-based jam band Widespread Panic during their summer tour.

With his wife Vanessa, Kaukonen currently owns and operates the Fur Peace Ranch, a music and guitar camp, complete with a 32 track studio, in the hills of southeast Ohio. He is currently under contract as a solo artist to Red House Records and still records and tours with Casady and other friends such as Barry Mitterhof as Hot Tuna. His 2002 album, Blue Country Heart, was widely acclaimed by critics as one of the definitive examples of American Depression Era music and features Kaukonen backed by an all-star Nashville bluegrass band. His latest album, Stars In My Crown, was released in March 2007.