Bill Tapia
|
Born on New Year's Day, 1908, Bill "Tappy" Tapia is a diminutive, stylish man with a thick Hawai'ian Pidgin accent, an iridescent smile, and a flamboyant wardrobe. He radiates charisma on stage and off. Out of his mouth comes one playfully naughty expression after another, charming everyone around. When he performs his eyes light up. His virtuoso playing and the contagious joy in his singing are mesmerizing. Like many artists, Bill is stubborn, self-absorbed, and overly demanding of those around him, but his passion for music and lust for life make people immediately fall in love with him.
Bill taught himself to play the 'ukulele as a young child, and by age 10, the Honolulu native was playing a spirited interpretation of "Stars and Stripes Forever" for WWI troops stationed in Hawai'i. At age 12, he left school to help support the family by working in the Hawai'ian vaudeville circuit, where he became a huge hit playing 'ukulele behind his head. In 1927, Bill, at age 19, opened the Royal Hawaiian Hotel as a featured player in famed Hawai'ian bandleader and composer Johnny Noble's orchestra. He hung out with the well-known "beach boys" Duke and Sam Kahanamoku during his sun-kissed days, and became a fixture on the Waikiki music scene during the glamorous big band-filled evenings of the 1920's, 30's and early 40's. He has crossed paths with such musical luminaries as Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, King Bennie Nawahi, Sol Ho'opi'i, Andy Iona, Charlie Barnett, Billie Holiday, Alfred Apaka, and Elvis Presley. Bill, with his incredible memory and dramatic flair for storytelling, still vividly recreates these often mischievous and always entertaining encounters. Without ever making a major recording, he has won adoring fans through 85 years of countless performances and his enigmatic persona. At 96, Bill can flirt with the girls and hang with the guys, and is simply the cool dude whom everyone would like to call a friend.
|
