Christmas arrived early for jazz crooner Jimmy Borges, who has started recording the first of a series of CDs with the Mountain Apple Co.
The goal: four to six albums to chronicle his career.
"It started five years ago when a friend gave me a large check out of the blue, telling me to record my music before I leave this mortal coil," said Borges. The sum helped, but he needed more angels.
He talked about his vision at parties; he handpicked tunes and backup musicians. He had beaucoup desire, but not enough moolah. Then angel No. 2 dropped an envelope with another large check.
"I cried at the generosity of my friends, who didn’t even know each other," he said.
Enter third angel Jon de Mello, the seasoned Mountain Apple producer (Brothers Cazimero, Amy Hanaiali‘i, Willie K) who invited Borges to join the eminent foundry of successful acts — with carte blanche privileges to select his repertoire, hire his musicians, and tap Matt Catingub and Dan Del Negro to do the initial arrangements.
"It’s like an anthology of my life and career," Borges said. "Some songs will be with a trio, some with full orchestra and strings, some with piano and voice with Betty Loo Taylor."
He’ll include Great American Songbook hits, plus songs by James Taylor, Barry Manilow, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Roberta Flack and Carole King.
His next session will be Tuesday, when Catingub, Steve Jones and Steve Moretti lay tracks to amp up the musical muscle. …
POPE HOPE: Emme Tomimbang‘s recent "Haiyan After the Storm" special is poised to screen for Pope Francis. A DVD is en route to the Vatican via an ambassador in Washington, D.C., thanks to Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva, who made the connection. The documentary will give the pontiff and his entourage a glimpse of the typhoon-ravaged areas he’ll visit, the sites Tomimbang captured in her documentary. "Kinda exciting," said Tomimbang about her contribution to the pope’s upcoming journey to the zone where she has family. "The pope ironically had a cameo in my show, as I announced he would be traveling there in January," she said. …
For the doc, Tomimbang was blessed to use the music of Hawaii-bound Jim Brickman, whose CD "Hope" offered the right measure and sentiment. "It was ironic because the Haiyan relief project was called Project HOPE by the Consuelo Foundation here," she said of the relief effort. Brickman donated the music; hear him live at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. …
HOLIDAY LEFTOVERS: Timothy and Christopher Bright, sons of Royal Hawaiian Band director Clarke Bright and wife Lynell, spent the holidays at home, making it literally a "bright" Christmas. Tim, younger bro of Chris, is in his first year of college at Cal State-Fullerton and landed a room in a four-bedroom house in Orange County, where Chris, in his senior year at Chapman University, is ensconced with two other seniors. Grandparents Ron and Mo Bright loved the family bonding, saying: "They do add a lot of joy and laughter to our dinners and gatherings." …
OUT ‘N’ ABOUT: Fran Kirk, currently living in Las Vegas, celebrated Christmas with longtime pals Karen and Tony Ruivivar, who hosted 80 guests at a party at their Henderson home. Society of Seven troupers Hoku Low, Bert Sagum, Wayne Wakai and Jun Estanislau attended; singer Nina Kealiiwahamana, holidaying with hubby Gordon Rapozo and friends in the gambling capital, sang "Jingle Bells" in Hawaiian, but the riotous "Twelve Days of Christmas," local style, was the big hit, with Sagum’s "two coconuts" routine. …
The Ruivivars then sashayed to Los Angeles to visit their son Anthony‘s family (wife Yvonne and their kids Kainoa, Levi and Kale). …
Singer Martin Nievera, who was performing at the Suncoast in Las Vegas, regrettably missed the party. …
And that’s "Show Biz." …
Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist; reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com; read his Show and Tell Hawaii blog at www.staradvertiser.com.
