COURTESY HO'OKANO FAMILY
Vibraphonist Francis Ho'okano will be remembered through a lively jam session April 29 at Hawaiian Memorial Park.
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Isle vibes player devoted to music
Francis Ho'okano / 1938-2006
NEW ORLEANS is famous for commemorating the deaths of musicians with funerals that emphasize lively jam sessions rather than mournful dirges. Friston Ho'okano plans to give his father, famed vibraphonist Francis Ho'okano, a similar type of send-off at Hawaiian Memorial Park on April 29.
Francis Ho'okano, 67, died of liver cancer on March 27, three days before he would have celebrated his 68th birthday, but his family postponed formal services so friends and fellow musicians could attend, some of them from the mainland.
Services will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 1 p.m. Noel Okimoto, Herb "Ohta-san" Ohta and Gabe Baltazar are among those expected to perform. The public is welcome.
Okimoto, another of Hawaii's top vibes players, remembers Ho'okano as a mentor and friend. Okimoto was 12 or 13 years old, performing with the Ebbtides, when he met Ho'okano. "It was about that time that I got interested in the vibraphone, in great part due to Francis, and he was such a nice and patient and giving person. We would spend some of the (band's) breaks on stage with him showing me stuff on the vibes. He was such a great person -- and a great player."
Ho'okano was an original member of Ohta's trio, performing at the Ala Moana and Kaimana hotels. "We worked so many places -- the International Market Place, the military clubs, the Aquarium, which used to be in the Imperial Hawaii (Hotel). Not only that, but (we made) a lot of recordings. ... He was a very devoted musician, very sensitive, and he was always trying to improve himself. He was such a nice guy and a good friend, not only as a co-worker but as a person."
Jazz pianist Rich Crandall recalled Ho'okano as a popular guest at his weekly "Studio 6" sessions at the Musicians Association of Hawaii.
"That was always fun. His passion was for Latin jazz," Crandall said.
"It was a shame when his knees started bothering him and he had trouble sitting or standing to play the vibes. That must have been frustrating, but it certainly didn't seem to affect his chops."
Ho'okano also worked over the years with Imaikalani Young, Al Harrington, Ernie Durante and Brickwood Galuteria.
He was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in December 2005 and told he had less than a year to live. Friston Ho'okano says his father declined "radical treatment."
"He wanted to continue to live day to day in a healthy way. He did not want to be in the hospital," Friston said, adding that his father died in his sleep at home, with his wife, Francine, nearby.
Francis Ho'okano was born in Kahaluu. Other survivors include another son, Damon Ho'okano, brother William "Pili" Ho'okano, sister Margaret Ho'okano Cruz and three grandchildren.