Hawaii Public Radio host jazzed up lives around him

Friends, colleagues and fans are pouring out their aloha and sharing stories of Don Gordon, a former Hawaii Public Radio jazz show host and impresario who died Sunday afternoon.

HPR President and General Manager Michael Titterton told the HPR ohana in a memo that Gordon died at 4:30 p.m. Sunday after suffering the latest in a series of heart attacks Friday. He was 75.

"Toward the end he was surrounded by a number of friends, neighbors and fans, including Bruce Hamada, Jimmy and Vicki Borges, and Gov. Abercrombie (Jimmy sang, Neil didn’t)," Titterton wrote. "The Don went very peacefully, and cared for."

Gordon’s health had been declining, and in the spring he left the station where he had hosted "Jazz with Don Gordon" Monday through Thursday and "Don’s Picks" Friday since August 2002.

He was honored by musicians, entertainers and colleagues at a reception May 25 at Studio 909 and the next day posted on Facebook his thanks to all who attended.

"There was a lot of love at 909," he wrote. "A memory I will never forget."

An organizer of the night’s festivities, Fumiko Wellington, had become Gordon’s caregiver as he needed help getting around.

"He was lucid. He was just physically weak," she said, adding, "He was a curmudgeon," an observation common among people around him.

Wellington was in New York when she received word of his death.

"I was so unhappy, I went down to the Hudson River while the sun was going down," she said, and described "the most beautiful sunset," followed by the rise of a brilliant, nearly full moon.

"I felt awful, but good — for him," she said.

Abercrombie was at Central Union Church when he got word that Gordon was hospitalized.

"I made it a habit to listen to ‘Jazz with Don Gordon’ on Hawaii Public Radio," Abercrombie said in a statement Monday. "As a fellow jazz enthusiast, I enjoyed the passion and expertise Don shared about this truly American musical genre. He knew how to entertain island jazz fans and never disappointed his faithful audience."

Abercrombie described Gordon as "a true gentlemen of jazz; a loyal and faithful friend; an exponent without parallel of America’s greatest contribution to music."

Gordon "opened up a lot of avenues here in Hawaii," Borges said. Among those for whom a Gordon-paved avenue opened up was local musician Bruce Hamada, bassist and vocalist with the eponymous Bruce Hamada Trio.

"Bruce has great jazz roots and Don saw that," Borges said. Gordon took Hamada to Los Angeles and introduced him "to the finest musicians and studio guys, and they did a recording at Capitol Records."

Gordon "knew everybody in the business, not just here, but real big names in the jazz and music world," both entertainers and people on the business side, Hamada said.

Gordon "was born for radio," Titterton told the Star-Advertiser. "There’s a personality that goes along with classical (music) and a personality that goes with jazz, and they’re certainly not the same at all. If we didn’t have the word ‘irascible’ in the language, we’d have to invent it just for Don."

Musician Jeff Ilardi, a former HPR employee, introduced Titterton to Gordon and joked about Gordon’s irascible side on Facebook on Monday.

"If I did not apologize before for being the one responsible in bringing Don Gordon to Hawaii Public Radio, I will now (Don would appreciate that)," Ilardi wrote, adding, "I miss him already."

Hawaii Public Radio jazz host Seth Markow, whose show "The Real Deal" has aired in Honolulu for 30 years, observed that Gordon’s weeknight show "was aimed at everybody."

"He was into the three B’s: bop, Brazil and big-band," Markow said, and likened Gordon to a "super-reliable pitcher" who consistently delivered fastballs right down the middle of home plate.

"Don’s thing was to focus on the center," said Markow, who also works at the Star-Advertiser.

"He was a terrific self-promoter and a hustler supreme," he added.

At one point Gordon worked for Hustler magazine mogul Larry Flynt, though nobody seems to know in what capacity. Markow recalled him saying "it was the best gig he ever had."

Jimmy Borges serenaded Gordon on Sunday with the Billy Strayhorn song "Lush Life."

"I quietly talked to him," Borges said, telling Gordon, "You’ve been there, done that. You haven’t been cheated in life. It might be time to go. We’ll catch up with you."

Arrangements for a celebration of life are pending.