Waikiki's Dixieland cornetist John Norris dead at 85

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Bandleader and cornetist John Norris, who delighted Hawai'i fans with his Dixieland music for more than four decades, died Friday. He was 85.

Norris was trained in classical music, played cello for the Honolulu Symphony, taught music in public schools and once studied conducting with Leonard Bernstein.

But his true love was playing lively Dixieland jazz that could keep listeners smiling and dancing all night. "He just had a talent for making people feel good with his music," said singer Jimmy Borges, who worked alongside Norris in Waikiki for years.

Sydette Sakauye Stanton, who sang for Norris' New Orleans Jazz Band of Hawai'i for nearly 15 years, said Norris had an ability that went beyond music.

"He had a unique blend of compassion and humor that could make everyone feel like his best friend — he had thousands of them," she said.

Norris came to Hawai'i in 1959 as a Navy bandmaster stationed at Pearl Harbor. When local bandleader Trummy Young needed a cornetist, he got special permission from the musicians' union to let Norris join his band at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

After that, Norris never stop-ped entertaining visitors and friends with his enthusiastic music, quick-witted humor and energetic approach to life, said his daughter Kathleen Norris.

His seven-piece band played to thousands of local fans throughout Waikiki and the Neighbor Islands.

At one point, it was the longest-running act in Waikiki, performing for more than 20 years at the Hilton's garden bar.

Norris retired in 1990, but he never stopped playing music. He continued to entertain old friends and win new ones with regular performances at the Waikiki Community Center, senior citizen gatherings and church groups, as well as sitting in with local jazz musicians and performing at festivals here and on the Mainland.

He also maintained a long-standing newsletter for fans and friends that was a mixture of Hawai'i musical notes, gossip, jokes, liberal outrage, obituaries, bad puns and political commentary.

"The most important thing was his ability to connect with humanity through his kindness, his humor and his music," Stanton said.

Norris is survived by his wife, Lois; son, the Rev. John T. Norris of Honolulu; daughters, Kathleen and Rebecca of Honolulu and Charlotte of Kailua; and four grandchildren. Services are pending.

Correction: John Norris performed at the Waikiki Community Center. A previous version of this obituary referred to a different facility.