Noel Okimoto is a versatile drummer, vibraphonist, percussionist, composer, and educator from Honolulu. Retired from the Royal Hawaiian Band after 31 years, he along with his wife Liane hosts a monthly jazz performance at the Musicians’ Association of Hawaii Studio 909 called “Ohana Jazz Night” on the last Thursday of every month. Noel is an instructor with the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony Jazz program. Joined by Tommy James (piano), Dean Taba (bass), Allen Won (sax) and Abe Lagrimas Jr. (percussion), Okimoto played selections that included original numbers from his second solo album, "Hō`ihi."
Meet the band:
Tommy James is a native New Yorker now living in Honolulu. A pianist, arranger, and composer, he is also the former director of the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 2011-2017. Tommy James currently performs weekly at the Halekulani Hotel Lewers Lounge.
Dean Taba is a bassist, composer, producer and educator from Honolulu. Educated at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he spent 20 years in LA , touring and recording in local music studios. Currently, he's the director of the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony Jazz Combo and the U.H. Jazz Ensemble.
Gustavo D’Amico is a saxophonist, composer and educator from São Paulo, Brazil, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. His work is the result of a creative amalgam of different artistic expressions and sound experiences, based on free improvisation, Brazilian music, jazz and contemporary classical music. He is the co-founder of the Alfaia Ensemble, a quintet that focus on the intersection between Brazilian and Middle Eastern music, Peixe Seco, a quartet that researches and investigates contemporary music and Brazilian folkloric music, and Solos de Ave, a trio that explores Brazilian music and free improvisation.
Abe Lagrimas Jr. is a musician from Hawaiʻi, a composer, educator and author who plays the drums, vibraphone and ukulele professionally. He studied at Berklee College of Music and competed as a finalist in the highly prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Drums Competition in 2012. Abe lived in Los Angeles for over 12 years, returning to Honolulu in 2022. He established and teaches an ʻukulele course with The Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony.
Noel Okimoto is a drummer, vibraphonist, percussionist, composer and educator from Honolulu. Retired from the Royal Hawaiian Band after 31 years, he along with his wife Liane hosts a monthly jazz performance at the Musicians’ Association of Hawaii Studio 909 called “Ohana Jazz Night” on the last Thursday of every month. Noel is an instructor with the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony Jazz program. After twenty years, he released his second solo album titled Hō`ihi.
The 2025 Live from the Atherton: Jazz concert series was produced by Kyla Herrmann with audio production and post-production by Ananddev Banerjee. The broadcast of this event was produced by Russell Subiono.
