British born guitarist, composer & folk singer Jamie O’Brien is releasing a new CD entitled “Chasing Ghosts”. Most of the songs are melodious and “jazzy”, and some are yearning songs of lost love, perhaps the “ghosts” of his past. Jamie asks that we mark Thursday, May 5 on our calendars. That is the release date for this new CD album. Musicians will be flying in from the East Coast & celebrating the release with Jamie at Boondocks that evening (3306 North 1st Avenue at 6:30pm).

Jamie on his guitar, courtesy of the musician

My favorites from this particular CD are #1 “Don’t Look Back”, #7 “See You Sometime” and #15 “You Only Wish”. The titles probably reveal the theme of the song’s lyrics. Jamie composed the 18 songs on this CD, and seven in collaboration with Stephen Roud, Ernest Hone, Peter Cooper, or Peter Morson.

He (and Bob Lee)will be performing at Lani’s Luau restaurant (NW corner of Harrison and Golf Links) on Friday April 29 at 6:30 p.m. Call ahead at 520-886-LUAU (5828). And he and some friends are also performing the next day at Lani’s for a fundraising luau (click here for the flyer).

Website: www.launies.com, email jobrien@launies.com to order this CD and others.

I’ve heard Jamie perform at 2nd Saturdays Downtown as well as at Himmel Park branch library and Bookman’s. He performs a lot of Irish Celtic music as well as Hawaiian slack key guitar and on the ukulele. “Uku” is flea and “lele” means jumping in Hawaiian, which is indicative of the lively music of this instrument. He’s also the winner of the 2011 Hawaiian Music Awards Anthology of the Year.

The local musicians accompanying Jamie on this CD are:
Dillon Barr (trumpet)
Phil Borzillo (guitar)
Bruce Campbell (bass)
Jenny Ford (vocals)
Ryck Kaiser (fiddle)
Henry Koreztky (vocals, mandolin, guitar)
Gary Mackender (accordion, Hammond organ)
Paul McKeown (guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals)
Jon Villa (trumpet)
Dede Wyland (vocals)

Read, read, read this summer at the Pima County public library! For more information, go to your local Pima County branch library or online at: www.library.pima.gov.. Here’s descriptions of each program (kids. teens, adults) from their website:

—For Kids
Pick up your free Make a Splash—READ! game board at any library beginning May 27, and use it to keep track of how many hours you read. Or, you, a parent or another responsible adult can log your hours online.

For every six hours you read, you earn prizes – stickers, pencils and much more!

All who read 24 hours by July 18 will receive a reading certificate and an Adventure Pass, which includes a ticket for four people to the Tucson Toros baseball finale at Hi Corbett Field on Sunday, July 25.

Six hours of extra reading earns you a pass to Breakers Water Park and a free paperback book.

—For Teens
Teens can pick up a free Make Waves @ Your Library reading booklet at any library beginning May 27, and use it to keep track of how many hours you read, or log your hours online.

You’ll earn prizes and gift coupons good at community businesses for every 10 hours read. Prizes include a $10 gift certificate to Bookmans and a backstage pass to the Make Sound Waves Rock Concert finale, where you’ll be able to party with performing bands in the Joel D. Valdez Main Library’s parking garage.

You can register online beginning May 27th or drop by your neighborhood library for additional details.

—For Adults
On June 5, 7:30-9:30 pm, bring your friends, family and picnic and celebrate Make a Splash-READ! with outdoor evening events at Himmel Park’s Amphitheater. Imagine classic instrumental surf tunes blasting from a ’49 Flathead Woody at our kick-off event, a concert featuring surfing music by a local favorite The El Camino Royales.

In July, catch the ultimate wave without leaving the state: it’s a screening of the film Endless Summer, the first and most influential film of the surf movie genre. That’s July 17, 8-10 pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

Then Make a Splash – READ! by tracking the hours you spend reading, as well as rating and reviewing books online. Just for signing up online (beginning May 27th ) with your email address, you’ll earn a chance to win our weekly drawing for a $5 Bookmans credit voucher.

Those who reach their personal reading goal will earn a Pima County Adventure Pass, a guide filled with coupons for reduced-price admissions to attractions throughout southern Arizona, including a discount towards a purchase at the Friends of the Library Book Barn.

Make a splash. Just check out your local library and read!