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Welcome to Ahuka's Choice

What's New?

Contents

Disclaimer: Read this first!

The recordings that comprise the Ahuka's Choice collection are NOT FOR SALE. They are intended for distribution FREE OF CHARGE to members of the 2400 Fulton Mailing List.

None of the recordings in Ahuka's Choice have been officially released by the Jefferson Airplane. Nevertheless, this music belongs to the Airplane. They are the only people who have a right to place a value on it. Anyone who sells these recordings without their explicit permission is stealing. Please respect the Airplane's property and never, ever buy or sell copies of the recordings in this collection.

In the unlikely event that the Airplane decides to commercially release any version of these recordings, collectors of Ahuka's Choice are morally obligated to purchase a copy.

What is Ahuka's Choice?

Ahuka's Choice is our insane yet heroic attempt to collect, restore and tree every officially unreleased live recording of the Jefferson Airplane we can find. It is inspired by the Operation Everyshow project administered by fans of Phish and moe., and the commercial Bear's Choice and Dick's Picks collections of the Grateful Dead.

Like their contemporaries the Dead, the Jefferson Airplane was essentially a live experience. Their studio recordings fail to capture the soaring emotion and raw power of their concert appearances. The handful of official live recordings serves only to whet the appetites of devoted fans.

Fortunately, several dozen unreleased Airplane tapes have been circulating among private collectors, some for over thirty years. It is our intention to locate the best possible copies of these recordings, restore them using the latest digital signal processing technology, and make them available to the members of 2400Fulton. In the process we hope to create a permanent digital archive for future fans and historians of the Airplane and the San Francisco Sound.

We're not in this for money (see the stern Disclaimer above), and the prestige opportunities are limited. We're doing it because we love the Airplane's music and enjoy sharing it with others.

Why "Ahuka?"

The name Ahuka comes from an Asian mistranslation of the lyrics for the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit."

In the original, Grace Slick sings the line, "Tell them a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call."

Faced with the unfamiliar word hookah, the luckless translator devised a curious phonetic equivalent: "Tell them Ahuka, the Swooping Caterpillar, has given you the call."

This was the cause of much good-natured hilarity on the 2400Fulton Mailing List. It also initiated the growing cult of Ahuka, the Swooping Caterpillar (from Whom all blessings flow).

How can I get copies of Ahuka's Choice?

The Ahuka's Choice recordings are intended for members of the 2400 Fulton Mailing List.

As each new volume of Ahuka's Choice is completed, an announcement will be sent to the mailing list. The Ahuka Project can no longer seed or administer public tape trees, so it is up to individual list members to obtain copies using private email.

Previously released volumes of Ahuka's Choice may also be obtained by sending an inquiry to the mailing list. If you are polite, patient and discreet, a friendly member of the list may offer to spin copies for you.

The Collection: A Detailed Description

Descriptions and notes for each volume are available at the links below.

Where do source tapes come from?

Anywhere we can find them!

Airplane fans have been collecting live tapes for decades. A few have gone out of their way to obtain the very best copies available. We hope to establish contacts with these collectors, and persuade them to part with their valuable reels and cassettes for a few nights so we can transcribe them into our archives. We've already been fortunate enough to locate a couple of original tapes that have never been distributed anywhere.

How are tapes "restored?"

We take the reel-to-reel, cassette or DAT source tapes and transcribe them into a PC-based digital mastering system (20-bit DACs @ 44.1 kHz). Then we use digital signal processing to correct the speed, reduce background noise, conceal blemishes and make adjustments in the dynamic range and equalization as needed.

Our restoration philosophy is conservative. We don't make extreme adjustments, add special effects or attempt to eliminate every last vestige of tape hiss. We just try to make it easier to ignore the imperfections of the source material. The resulting sound is rarely of commercial quality, but it's often much better than the copies you could find anywhere else.

A special goal is to preserve the stage noise between songs whenever possible. A close listen to this material often yields unexpected treasures as the members of the Airplane interact with the audience and one another.

What sound formats are supported?

We make analog cassettes and DATs (44.1 SCMS=0) from the digital seeds. CD-Rs and/or MP3s may be available for some future releases.

Are there plans for future volumes?

Eventually. These things take time.

Who's running this thing, anyway?

Ahuka's Choice is operated entirely by volunteers, strictly on a not-for-profit basis.

Source tapes are provided by Jefferson Airplane fans all over the world. Recordings from the collection are copied, traded and generally admired by members of the 2400 Fulton Mailing List.

The project historian, archivist and occasional graphic artist is Scott Abbot, author of JAbase, the definitive guide to the live performance history of the Jefferson Airplane. Scott is constantly updating JAbase as new facts are discovered, and welcomes input and show reviews from everyone.

Online notes for each volume are provided by Tim Lucas. Other contributions from anyone are always welcome.

"There is but one God -- Jack Casady --
and Ahuka, the Swooping Caterpillar, is his prophet!"

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