Adrienne Nims and Spirit Wind to perform at the Carmel Valley Library

August’s free family music program, sponsored by the Friends of the Carmel Valley Library, will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m. in its community room. It will feature Adrienne Nims and Spirit Wind, with pianist J R Betts playing global jazz. The program will last 45 minutes.

Nims was raised in New England where she studied with professors from the Universities of Massachusetts and Michigan, and the New England Conservatory of Music (NECM), and played in ensembles at the NECM as a teenager. She continued her studies at Ithaca College and performed as a guest artist in numerous Cornell University faculty concerts. She moved to the west coast in 1995 where she has been performing, composing, recording, and teaching. Her band, Spirit Wind, in which she plays flutes and saxophones, has played at the San Diego Zoo, Getty Museum in LA, California Center for the Arts in Escondido, and at several major jazz festivals, resorts, restaurants, libraries, and other venues in San Diego. An accomplished studio musician of nearly 20 years, Adrienne is featured on over 50 CDs, including her own releases, Spirit Wind and Now and Zen.

Betts was born in New York and started playing piano at the age of 7. He was very active in music at school, singing in the choir and playing piano through high school. During his tour of duty in the U.S. Army he played and sang in several military musical groups, toured the western United States with an elite show group, and won first place in several military musical contests. Since then he has toured the United States playing opposite England Dan & John Ford Coley, Cold Blood, and other groups. He also worked for a year on several Princess Cruise ships touring the world. In San Diego he has played at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, US Grant, Ritz Carlton, Marriott Hotels, and other venues.

The library is located at 3919 Townsgate Drive in Carmel Valley. For more information call (858) 552-1668.