The Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation

I spent a delightful hour Saturday afternoon listening to 15 musicians jamming in their new home in the heart of Riverdale Park's Town Center (in the old Bookshop and Coffee Depot at Queensbury and R.I Ave).

This is now a regular event - every Saturday afternoon 1-5 p.m.

All are welcome.

You can just listen or join in with the playing and singing (and a bit of dancing in place). The instruments are exclusively acoustic and the music is strongly folk/blues oriented. The event is family friendly and enjoys a nice mix of musicians from the Washington Metro area.

The musicians play for the sheer joy of making music, and the joy permeates the room. Although you are welcome to just listen, you should know that it's a jam - not a performance. The musicians sit and stand in an informal ring facing each other and trade off playing lead/solo and backup. It is mostly improvisation - I saw no printed music at all. People and instruments come and go as their time permits.

A cavalcade of instruments abounded: along with a conventional flute, string base, clarinet, harmonica and a variety of beautifully crafted acoustic guitars were: a Koncovka (a Slovakian wooden flute - viewable in Bob's lap in the lower left of the photo), the smallest snare drum I ever saw, a mandolin, a washboard "with cans" played with whisks, a Djenbe (a West African drum), and an extraordinary washtub string base.

This is the new home for the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation (AEBHF). They are a non-profit organization dedicated to "keeping East Coast acoustic folk blues alive, through weekly Saturday jams, performances, workshops, exhibits, and lectures."

An optional donation box helps pay the rent.

For more info visit http://www.acousticblues.com/ or just drop in next Saturday afternoon. You will be happy you did.

- Rob Oppenheim (2/28/09)


Pictures by Don Lynch.



AEBHF members come from all over, and at least one is a local Riverdalian: Miles Spicer - the S in MSG - The Acoustic Blues Trio. Are there others?