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JIMMY BORGES

Jimmy Borges is known to his many loyal fans as the “keeper of the flame” – referring to his musical respect for Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Mercer, Arlen, Rodgers & Hart and the rest of those legendary composers.  Jimmy’s selections include music from these composers in every show.

Jimmy’s musical career runs the gamut of intimate jazz clubs in San Francisco, Vancouver and Montreal, to the showrooms theater and concert halls of New York, Las Vegas, and Rio de Janeiro.

Jimmy’s respect is returned by other singers.  Tony Bennett once said of Jimmy, “Wherever this man goes, follow him.  He’s one of the best singers I’ve ever heard.”  (December 31, 1985)

In March 2008, Jimmy was awarded The Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts (Na Hoku Hanohano), and in 2006 Jimmy received the Music Foundation of Hawaii’s Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement as a vocalist.  Jimmy, along with Don Ho, Tihati, George Naope and others were the first recipients of this significant honor.

Jimmy produced a personal salute to Frank Sinatra in concert with the Honolulu Symphony.  With his blessing, Frank Sinatra’s musical library of over 2000 arrangements were opened to Jimmy for this special occasion.  (Jimmy is the only singer ever allowed complete access to Sinatra’s legendary musical arrangements.)  This concert was such a hit that it was voted “Best Concert of the Year” by the readers of the prestigious Honolulu Magazine.  Jimmy again produced the “Salute to Sinatra” concerts with the Honolulu Symphony, entertaining the audiences with some of the most popular and well known Sinatra tunes and arrangements.  It was repeated four times by popular demand.

Jimmy is one of the very rare celebrities to have graced the cover of three separate Mid-Week magazines.

Jimmy also sold-out the Vancouver International Jazz Festival at “Rossini’s,” and was also one of the stars of the Hawaii International Jazz Festivals from 1996 to the present.  Jimmy also was the guest star and host of the first Maui Jazz Festival.

Jimmy recently visited Tokyo where he performed with the Ka’au Crater Boys at two concerts singing Hawaiian music with a “jazz touch.”

Jimmy was the guest artist for the Auckland Philharmonia for the opening of its Cisco Jazz Series.  Jimmy was a hit with the Aucklanders’, receiving four curtain calls and being asked to return in the future.

Jimmy and his cabaret partner Shari Lynn also played to sold-out houses at Atherton Performing Arts and toured the West Coast, including Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. 

Previous concerts with the Honolulu Symphony featured Jimmy singing the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and a Glenn Miller Big Band Tribute.  Jimmy also has sung with the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, and Illinois Jacquet.  Jimmy also guest starred for several years with the Del Courtney Band at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Jimmy performed his Tribute to Frank Sinatra at the San Diego Fair, with the United States Navy Concert Orchestra.  Before a crowd of 25,000 Jimmy concluded the Fair that opened two weeks earlier with acts such as Tom Jones, The Beach Boys, Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain, Natalie Cole and others.  It was a rousing success.

Recently Jimmy performed on three consecutive nights in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater with the Florida Symphony Orchestra.  The opening concert of the Florida season was an overwhelming success in each venue.  Jimmy shared the bill with multi-talented Honolulu Pops Conductor Matt Catingub.

Jimmy was invited to perform at the prestigious and exclusive Bohemian Grove by Dr. Evan Dobelle, University of Hawaii President.  The Grove shows went so well that Jimmy was invited back to perform at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco.

Jimmy was invited by Mrs. Frank (Barbara) Sinatra and Robert Wagner to perform (and to play golf!) at the legendary Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament in the Palm Springs area.  Jimmy performed with Dom DeLuise, Jack Jones, Suzanne Somers, Andy Williams and Buddy Greco, and was highly praised by the press and Barbara herself.

Jimmy’s early film career includes 30-plus segments of  “Hawaii Five-0,” yearly Magnum P.I. appearances, made-for-television movies with Dennis Weaver, Bill Conrad and Jose Ferrer, and sundry other shows including the Rockford Files, Charlie’s Angels and the Jeffersons. (Hawaii Five-0 even wrote a special script for Jimmy – one where he could use his own name and sing in the opening of the show!)

Jimmy’s national television singing appearances include the Merv Griffin Show, Jonathan Winters Special and the Victor Borge Special.

Jimmy’s local television career included his own television show called “Honolulu AM,” game show host for “Let’s Go To The Races,” hosting various telethons and many national and local commercials including United Airlines, Sunkist Oranges, and Safeway Stores.

Jimmy’s early career includes all-star football honors in high school and college in the San Francisco Bay Area and a brief fling in semi-pro baseball in Oakland, California.

Miscellaneous:  Jimmy has been invited to sing the National Anthem for many sports teams around the country including the Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, New Mexico Lobos, U.H. Rainbows, and many All-Star games.

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