An Enjoyable Browse
I have to admit I'm not a fan of the Blues. Listening to them, I mean,
not getting them, where in fact I'm up there with the world champions.
In fact if pushed, I'd be hard pressed to name any great Blues musicians.
Or any mediocre Blues musicians. Any blues musicians at all, come to think
of it, which I don't do very often, or even at all. John Belushi and Dan
Aykroyd maybe, but that's about it.
So it came as a surprise to find that I enjoyed John Mayer's "Blues
for Peace" page (bluesforpeace.com) set up "in Israel to honor the roots
of blues music and promote peace and understanding that all peoples
have had their share of the blues."
And they shall beat their swords into guitars" begins the page, and
as a way of achieving this worthy aim, contains such sections as peace
(the peace process, environment, blues about peace); music (Israeli blues
plus jazz, Klezmer and ethnic music); words (original blues articles, beat
poetry, underground); going out (night spots, folk clubs, Israeli blues
festivals); classes (blues workshops, teachers and music schools), and
something called Maxwell St. (music books, CD's, instruments, deals).
There's also a message board, to "post a note, find a musician, teacher,
gig". Okay, so the Blues for Peace site didn't make me feel like singing
the Blues, and didn't change my views of peace, but it did provide me with
an enjoyable browse, something I don't get much of these days."
Surfing The Net by Jeff Abramowitz (10.7.98)
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