Steve Jones — musician, arranger and record producer — died Sunday at a hospice in Kailua. Jones had been battling stage 4 prostate cancer since 2013 and entered hospice care earlier this month. He was 61.
Donna Bebber, executive director of Hawaii Pops, remembered Jones as “a talented and amazing man.”
“Matt Catingub and I were so fortunate to have Steve with us when we started Hawaii Pops,” Bebber said via email. “Like so many others, we will miss him greatly. He was (the Pops) personnel manager, but that’s a misleading title because he did so much more.”
Responding Saturday to questions sent via email for a planned feature story, Jones told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he had fought the disease until he was told that all options for treatment had been exhausted. Asked how’d he’d kept going — working for two years while undergoing treatment — he responded, “I’ve always believed ‘Live the Life You Love and Love the Life You Live.’”
“There are so many incredible musicians I had the opportunity to work with. Each and every one inspired me and shaped me into the performer I am today. The Hawaiian community always embraced and welcomed me with open arms. Their culture and music helped influence how I lived my life — with aloha.”
Jones’ death was mourned across the island entertainment community. Merri Lake McGarry, a founding member of the Hawaiian Style Band, recalled him as a “wonderful musician and a good man.”
Skylark Rossetti, longtime board member of the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts, described him as “one of Hawaii’s finest bass players willing to back up anyone.”
Steel guitarist Greg Sardinha said Jones was “a funny and a serious musician that made it look easy. We had fun times (working together) during the Hula Joe &the Hutjumpers era.”
Mailani Makainai knew him as “a cool cat. His style of performing never fought against the singer or the story of the music. I loved that he was also a teacher. Taking on students and imbuing upon them his love of the bass and how its foundation is a necessity in music.”
Stephen L. Jones was born Nov. 7, 1954, in Long Beach, Calif.
His family moved to Hawaii when he was 2. He graduated from the University of Hawaii Lab School, attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa and continued his musical education at the Dick Grove School of Music in Los Angeles.
Jones will also be remembered for his commitment to teaching. “A few years ago when I was helping out the Mililani High School jazz band, I asked Steve to come in and work with the kids. He eagerly accepted the invitation and gave them an inspirational clinic and would not accept any compensation,” said Paul Stanley.
Fluent in Japanese, Jones left an impression on John Kolivas, founder of the Honolulu Jazz Quartet. “My fondest memories of Steve were on a Japan tour some years ago. Steve … was so helpful translating for us.”
Keyboardist Kenny Kaminaka recalled the time Jones asked him to play a job backing John Rowles on Maui: “I was busy, but who could refuse Steve? It ended up being one of my most fun gigs!”
Slack-key guitarist Kawika Kahiapo emphasized that Jones was more than a talented musician.
“Not only did he play at the highest level, he was a gentleman, team player, passionate, kind, friendly, and loved his family so very much.”
Kamuela Kimokeo said Jones was one of his heroes. “The way he treated people who could do nothing for him was a great example of how we should all live. Seeing him go through this struggle with cancer has been one of the roughest things to witness, but although it damaged his body until the very end he was still Steve.”
Jones released his first solo album, “The Steve Jones Collective, Vol. 1,” in 2004. He described it Saturday as one of the projects he was proudest of.
Others included Hawaii Pops, working with Loretta Ables Sayre on her CD, “Dreamy,” producing the debut album of the alt-rock girl group Crimson Apple (“They like to say that I inspired them, whereas in reality, they inspired me”) and “working with the incomparable Jimmy Borges. I had the honor and privilege to be the bassist on all of the tracks on his (final) album.”
Jones received a standing ovation at a memorial event for Borges on June 12. It was his last public appearance.
“My biggest accomplishment is raising my son Sean with my beautiful wife Lee Ann,” he added. “She has been my rock. He is my legacy.”
Jones is also survived by father Lawrence S. Jones, mother Ruth D. James, sisters Deborah Bailey and Rebecca Perry, brother Keola Jones, five nieces and two nephews.
A celebration of life will be held in July.
