Hot Tuna with Special Guest Leon Russell Set for bergenPAC, 6/21

Bergen Performing Arts Center located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, New Jersey will present Hot Tuna with Special guest Leon Russell Saturday, June 21st 2014 at 8PM. For one night only, don't miss these two legendary artists teaming up for one amazing show! Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell is known for his larger than life persona and unparalleled piano style. Hot Tuna - comprised of former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady - put a truly American spin on blues rock. Together, they make a night of rock and roll for the ages!

From their days playing together as teenagers to their current acoustic and electric blues, probably no one has more consistently led American music for the last fifty years than Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, the founders and continuing core members of Hot Tuna. The pair began playing together while growing up in the Washington D.C. area. In the mid 1960's, Jorma was asked to audition for a new band that was forming in San Francisco. Though an acoustic player at heart, he grew interested in the band's electronic gear and decided to join. Soon thereafter he summoned Jack, who now played the bass, from Washington D.C. Jack's experience as a lead guitarist led to a style of bass playing that took the instrument far beyond its traditional role. The unique sound of The Jefferson Airplane was created. Jorma contributed the band's name, drawn from a nickname a friend had for the blues-playing Jorma. Along with the other members of The Jefferson Airplane, Jorma and Jack are 1996 inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Kaukonen-Casady duo created much of The Jefferson Airplane's signature sound, and Jorma's lead and fingerstyle guitar playing characterizes some of the band's most memorable tracks. Jorma and Jack would jam whenever they could and would sometimes perform sets within sets at Airplane concerts. Jorma left Jefferson Airplane after the band's most productive five years, and in 1969 Hot Tuna became a full-time job. Over the next four decades Hot Tuna would perform thousands of concerts and release more than two dozen records.

Leon Russell is an American musician and songwriter. He started his career at the age of 14 in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma and has continued making music ever since. His music has grown in ranks on the top charts and has been recognized world-wide. Russell was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2011.