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You apparently don't need to be in Chicago to hear great blues music, as the Blues For Peace Web site in Israel demonstrates. But this being Israel, the traditional music takes on new shades of meaning. This isn't just blues, man, it's blues for peace. As the site asks in its opening page, "Isn't it time people stopped fighting and learned to play 12-bar shuffles instead?" Indeed. This Isn't Just Blues Man ...
Although an African-American mode of music, the blues have always had a strong following among younger Jews -- and that has given rise to an active blues scene in the Jewish state. Check it out: here you'll find articles about the blues, poetry and blues songs about peace (not a big selection, actually).
A "Maxwell Street" section -- referring to the Jewish ghetto market in Chicago, which later became home to many of the hottest blues bands -- offers merchandise for sale, and a hot link to Amazon.com, the online bookstore. Read about books on the blues at this site, and if you like what you read, your order can be processed through Amazon.
And there's information about where you can hear the blues in Israel -- a surprisingly long list, actually -- or how to find someone who can teach you to sing or play the blues almost as well as if you lived in Chicago.
Oh yes, there's a Blues For Peace weekend retreat, where you can "commune with nature and have a weekend of peace," at a kibbutz, no less. And there's a forum where visitors can leave messages, including "band for hire" announcements, notices about stolen instruments and information about
songwriting competitions.One big disappointment: no sound files. So the only way to hear what all these Israeli blues bands sound like is to hop the next El Al jet.
Why should the Blues For Peace site interest your average Jewish Netsurfer? Because Israel is a lot more diverse than many folks in this country realize, and this site is a funky evocation of that spirit.
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