Live In Japan

Dirty Linen - "The energy of the room is palpable in the recordings, and it results in an unusually uptempo, energized set."

Live In Japan is the eighth live Hot Tuna performance released by Relix Records. It was recorded in a cramped club in Yokohama in 1997. The show was an impromptu acoustic set because the club was too small to hold the all the band's electric equipment. However don't expect the delicate, interwoven acoustic blues of 1969's Hot Tuna (Recorded Live). Even though Hot Tuna draws on much of the same material here, the treatments are up-tempo and at times a little muddy. Like many of the Relix offerings, Live In Japan has a bootleg feel that is both immediate and rough. This version of Hot Tuna features Pete Sears, formerly of Jefferson Starship, on keyboards and accordion. He gives Hot Tuna a different dimension that is not always a smooth fit. As usual, though, the finger- picking of Jorma Kaukonen and the rumbling bass of Jack Casady dominate the stage. Their talents remain undiminished. This is an exuberant performance that must have been great to see. But home listeners may find themselves saying, "I guess you had to be there." ~ S. Colby Miller|