Re: what is the blues

["G. Weiser" <glennw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 19:53:14 -0800 (PST)
>From: Robb Bingham <robbingham@xxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: harp-l-digest V10 #130
>
>Gee. Since we're defining ~what Blues Is~, and also
>~what Country is~, - - - and also what, ~sarcasm,
>irreverence and HIP is~, I was thinking: What is
>~Existence~?
>
>I mean this is Harp-L, right? We can't define ~tone~
>or ~honk~, but we're raring to go on what, exactly,
>~Blues~ is. 
>
>So, tell me, what's ~existence~? Did it come into
>being before consciousness? Or was there something
>conscious already and then existence plopped down next
>to it?
>
>And while we're at it: What's ~love~? Or ~light~ [for
>that matter]; is it just the absence of darkness? I
>mean, would it exist without eyeballs to be blinded
>occasionaly by it? 
>
>Or ~Jazz~. That's the one I really want to understand.
>Would that exist without lonely [non-musician] NY
>cafe-goers who think listening to some junkie practice
>scales is a special evening? I mean. I mean, what is
>Jazz, really? It's more about diminishment rather than
>augmentation, that much I figured out on 2 bottles of
>Boones Farm my first summer in the Village but- - -
>
>Or. How about, like, Lightening Bugs! How do they DO
>that?
>
>Cheers,
>Robb
>
Get out the hip boots!
What is the blues is a fair question-it's not stupid. The Harvard 
Dictionary of Music has an answer for this, and they're no dummies at 
Harvard. Does the entry say, "if you have to ask, you're a hopeless 
idiot?" No-it attempts a serious definition.
And how many spiels have you heard or read by black artists 
philosophizing about what the blues are? Zillions. So let's see, if I'm 
a guitar picking sharecropper from the Delta I can talk about what the 
blues are, but if I'm some educated cat from New Jersey I have to shut 
up. I don't think so.
The blues may not be easy to define, but they are nonetheless a big part 
of the harmonica's reportoire. IMO this thread is entirely within bounds.

Glenn Weiser
http://www.celticguitarmusic.com/harppage.htm