Sunday, December 4, 2011

Bill Tapia

 A L O H A 
to a LEGEND
photo courtesy Cindy Ellen Russell/crussell@staradvertiser.com



" He was believed to be the oldest living 
performing musician -
jazz ukulele legend Bill Tapia is dead.

He passed away peacefully in his sleep at home in Westminster, California on December 2nd at the age of 103.

 With a career that spanned over 90 years,
he was the last living link to the earliest days
of both jazz and the ukulele
as a popular instrument.

Born New Years Day 1908 in Honolulu, 
Tapia got his first instrument at the age of 7
from Manuel Nunes, one of the first
and most respected ukulele makers
in Hawai’i. 

 He started his career entertaining 
World War I troops
at USO shows in 1918.

 After seeing John Philip Sousa’s band perform,
he came up with a unique version of
Stars and Stripes Forever
that was later copied 
by numerous Hawaiian musicians.


 From that point on, he never stopped performing 
and sharing his love of music,
infectious wit and charming personality
with one and all.


 Bill spent his early career
bouncing back and forth from Hawai’i
to the West Coast playing on steamships.

 He performed as a backup musician with such luminaries as Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, 
Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, 
as well as everyone who was anyone 
in the early Hawaiian music scene.

 He played with Johnny Noble’s band
at the opening of the 
iconic Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927,
returning to perform
at the hotel’s reopening in
2009. 

 For a time he was employed as a “musical driver”, serving as a tour guide 
and teaching a few ukulele chords
to Hollywood stars including Clark Gable
and Shirley Temple
during the instrument’s first
national craze.  



Tapia spent World War II in Honolulu
leading a 14 piece band in “blackout ballrooms”
with all the lights out 
to avoid possible detection
by Japanese bombers.





After the war, Bill relocated to the San Francisco area, continuing to tour for several years with swing bands such as Charlie Barnet’s group. 


 Tiring of life on the road,
he settled down with wife Barbie and daughter Cleo, playing in TV orchestras,
as a sideman with local bands,
and teaching guitar.  

An entire generation of Bay Area guitarists
have fond memories of learning their first licks
from “Tappy” at Campagna Music in Lafayette,
where he worked for several decades.


Around the turn of the last century, 
Bill lost both his wife and daughter
and relocated to Orange County to be closer to relatives.


 Soon after, he was rediscovered
and embarked on perhaps the unlikeliest career comeback in music history. 


 Returning to his ukulele roots, he released his first CD “Tropical Swing” in 2004 at the age of 96,
featuring jazz and Hawaiian standards.  

The title track was a 1936 recording
on Okeh Records, his only previous release.

 Riding the wave of a new ukulele resurgence, 
Bill was soon in demand at clubs and festivals
up and down the West Coast, Hawai’i, 
New York and even Japan.  

He followed up Tropical Swing
with Duke of Uke (2005) and Livin’ It LIve (2009), showcasing his amazing live show.

All three of these CDs made the national jazz charts
and received airplay 
on hundreds of radio stations nationwide. 

 Earlier this year, Live at the Warner Grand
was released, documenting
his 100th birthday concert.


 Slowed but not stopped by a broken hip, 
Tapia continued to tour until late in 2010.



Bill Tapia was inducted into 
the Ukulele Hall of Fame
in 2004, and received 
a Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Hawaiian Academy of Recording Arts
in 2011.


 He was perhaps the most beloved
and revered 
figure in the ukulele world, 
and everyone who ever knew him
or saw him perform
will be forever inspired. 
  Funeral arrangements are pending."


 Guitarist Jeff Peterson told the Honolulu Star Bulletin that "- despite his age
Tapia was always fully engaged with the performance
and would call out key changes and solo performances 
with the precision of a band leader half his age."

 Jeff told a local TV station
that Bill often spoke of life 
in the Hawaii of an earlier day,
including seeing
Queen Liliuokalani's
funeral procession.


Headlining in Heaven now, 
the incomparable BILL TAPIA-



31 comments:

Dave King said...

A wonderful tribute. Compelling writing.

the walking man said...

I am willing to bet that his resurgence is why so many of my guitar playing friends are now buy Uke's and learning to play them.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Fabulous tribute Cloudia, what an amazing man..it sounds unbelievable when you say someone had a musical career 'spanning 90 years'..Also re your last post (I've been having a few probs with computer, and have just seen it) as far as comfort food goes, it would be garlic and chilli pasta plus chocolate and lots of it..but the thing that comforts me the most is arriving home, kicking off shoes and sliding into my slippers, I love them and would wear them everywhere if I could!!

Akannie said...

WOW!

What a guy, huh?? I have always loved the sound of a ukelele...

God is dancing....Bill Tapia has gone home to play...

Birdman said...

That was a loaded life!

Lynn said...

Headlining in heaven for sure. A lovely tribute.

Hilary said...

Cloudia what a great tribute to a fine man. He sure had a long, wonderful career. My son wants a ukelele among his other stringed instruments. I'm for that.

Reanaclaire said...

Great if he reads your post!

Commander Zaius said...

Fantastic tribute to an amazing man.

Charles Gramlich said...

If there's a rock and roll heaven, you know they got a helluva band

Full-On-Forward said...

How can someone like that ever be replaced? I guess their not supposed to be huh? They live on in their music and the disciples they they influenced!

Awesome Tribute!

HIYA SIS!!!!


HFTEC,

J

Freda said...

Wonderful video to illustrate your eulogy. Thanks for introducing him to me!

Windsmoke. said...

A Bonza tribute to a legend that will be sorely missed but not forgotten :-).

Feisty Crone said...

Wonderful video, and what a talented man. Nice tribute, and what a legacy he has left.

Gemel said...

Bless his heart, he returns Home to become the melody of love.

Carolina Louback said...

Aloha

Hugs from Brazil

Carolina Tavares

Café com canela

Anonymous said...

Wonderful info on a wonderful legend. What a jam session Heaven is hosting! DrumMajor

KrippledWarrior said...

well done Cloudia. You made me miss him and I've never heard of him before now.

Anonymous said...

what a legend !

please have a good start into the new week.

Ann Marie said...

i LOVE this! i've never heard of him...so glad you shared!

Jenn Jilks said...

I adore the way you honour your elders. Amazing man.

Cheers from Cottage Country!

SandyCarlson said...

Very cool dude, Cloudia! Thank for this post.

magiceye said...

beautiful obituary

namaste /\ from mumbai
aloha!!

Laura said...

quite a unique musician...and a lovely tribute!

Cloudia said...

Seriously:
each one of YOUr comments gives me a little thrill or warmth.

gosh, THANK YOU for sharing here

CMBT said...

nice tribute. such an amazing man. nice style of writing too :)

Kavita Saharia said...

Beautiful tribute to a wonderful soul.Aloha.

Cloudia said...

Aloha! Thanks for your visit!

Elephant's Child said...

What a lovely eulogy you have written. Thank you.

Kay said...

Sounds like a wonderful, amazing man and musician. I didn't know about him before, but I did see the tribute on TV too. Wow! This is a very loving, beautiful post, Cloudia.

Cloudia said...

Mahalo!