“Jimmy Borges: A Life Story”
7 p.m. Thursday on KGMB
9 p.m. June 3 on KHNL
“Jimmy Borges: A Life Story,” chronicling the career and legacy of the Hawaii jazz singer, premieres at 7 p.m. Thursday on KGMB. It’s also a formidable love story about the Kalihi kid who was bound for an athletic career as a youth, yet switched courses to evolve into a smooth jazz crooner, not just because of his inherent talent, but also because he discovered that “I like being special” and “to get applause.” And singing was a lot safer than playing baseball and football, he reasoned.
Blanketed by sound snippets of his velvety tones, played over the dozen-plus segments chronicling his storied 60-year career, Borges, 80, reflects on his show business journey, his battle with liver cancer in 2011 and recent struggles of living with — and dying from — incurable lung cancer. He divulged his fate in late 2015.
With compelling honesty, Borges lets his hair down with the show’s veteran producer-director, Phil Arnone. The show probes the entertainer’s rise to fame in performances on the mainland (notably San Francisco and Las Vegas), his glide into the Waikiki mainstream (first at Keone’s, then at Trappers at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki) and, in his period of coping with cancer, concern about his identity (he’s Hawaiian, Portuguese and Chinese) and what kind of legacy he would leave.
“Who am I?” he says in one segment. “I had to define myself.”
He has long been involved in teaching and mentoring, and his legacy was furthered when a music scholarship bearing his name was recently established at the University of Hawaii.
“A Life Story” balances harmony in both his professional and personal lives with revelations about his choice to forgo radiation and chemotherapy treatments, and why he and his wife, Vicki, protect the privacy of their home.
“We need that privacy and time together,” she says, despite the transparency he’s demonstrated about his failing health.
The show is obvious in its affection and admiration for Borges, underscoring his debonair manner, professionalism and indelible philosophy of “telling a story” through song.
A long list of peers and friends express tributes to Borges. Among them:
>> Jon de Mello, recording producer: “He takes you on a musical journey.”
>> Lucie Arnaz, singer: “He can sing ‘100 Bottles of Beer’ and make it a story.”
>> Loretta Ables Sayre, jazz and Broadway performer: “Kind, insightful, generous, naughty, fun; he started out as my idol, ended up as my friend.”
>> Robert Cazimero, singer and kumu hula: “People like Jimmy Borges are very rare.”
>> Steffanie Borges, his daughter: “He does it for the love of people.”
>> Jim Nabors, TV star and singer: “Sometimes you meet someone and they become part of your life; Jimmy’s one of them.”
>> Leslie Wilcox, TV executive and host: “He never forgets his roots.”
>> Shari Lynn, jazz singer: “His delivery of a song … it’s authentic.”
The special opens with Borges performing a mellow “Fly Me to the Moon” in his trademark minimalist rendition. It closes with one of Borges’ favorite tunes because it toasts all that he stands for: “Here’s to life, here’s to love, here’s to you.”
