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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