By Kathy Hansberry

The venerable vocal jazz performer Jimmy Borges is being joined by his esteemed friends and fellow award-winning musicians Gabe Baltazar and Betty Loo Taylor at Outrigger Enterprises Groups’ next Na Mele No Na Pua free concert on Sunday, October 26, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., on stage at the Embassy Suites® – Waikiki Beach Walk® Grand Lanai.

Jimmy Borges

Jimmy Borges is one of Hawaii’s most iconic performers with a musical career that has spanned 50 years. He’s performed in nightclubs, showrooms, and concert halls all over the world, including San Francisco, Vancouver, Montreal, New York, Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro. Whether it’s jazz, Broadway, well-known classics, or contemporary tunes, Borges does it all with style and finesse.

Gabriel “Gabe” Baltazar Jr.

Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner Gabriel “Gabe” Baltazar Jr. is recognized as one of the world’s great alto saxophone players. He began his musical career as a featured soloist with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, with whom he recorded 18 albums. He also collaborated with other talented musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Cannonball Adderly, Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars, James Moody and the Saxophone Stars, and the Oliver Nelson Orchestra, among others.

Betty Loo Taylor

Betty Loo Taylor, notable pianist and jazz musician, became a piano prodigy at the tender age of three. Betty Lou Taylor’s life story was featured in a short film documentary entitled “They Call Her Lady Fingers,” which won the Blockbuster Video Audience Award for Best Documentary in the 2003 Hawaii International Film Festival. In June of this year, she received a Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Jazz Album of the year for “For All We Know,” a special collaboration with one of Hawaii’s distinguished singers Joy Abbott.

Outrigger’s Na Mele No Na Pua signature concert series is held bi-monthly on the final Sunday of the scheduled month. Each concert is held from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the Grand Lanai of the Embassy Suites – Waikiki Beach Walk hotel. Since its inception, some of Hawaii’s most prominent and legendary entertains have taken the Na Mele No Na Pua stage, including Eddie Kamae, the late Aunty Genoa Keawe, Ledward Kaapana, Jerry Santos of Olomana, and Willie K.

Concerts are free and open to the public while seating allows. Elevator access to the Grand Lanai is located on Lewers Street ground level. Valet parking is $6 for up to four hours at the Embassy Suites – Waikiki Beach Walk (201 Beachwalk) and the Wyndham at Waikiki Beach Walk® (227 Lewers Street), with any same-day purchase from any Waikiki Beach Walk® merchant.