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."

From billtapia.com/blog

 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-