Louis William Tapia (January 1, 1908 – December 2, 2011), known as "Uncle Bill" and "Tappy", was an American musician, born to Portuguese parents. At age 8, Tapia was already a professional musician, playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

troops in Hawaii. In his long career beginning in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and quickly expanding as a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

player he performed with names such as

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

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and Hawaiian musicians such as

King Bennie Nawahi King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Sol Hoʻopiʻi Solomon Hoʻopiʻi Kaʻaiʻai ( ; 1902 – November 16, 1953) was a Native Hawaiian lap steel guitarist. A virtuoso, he was one of the most famous original Hawaiian steel guitarists, along with Joseph Kekuku, Frank Ferera, Sam Ku West and "K ...

, and

Andy Iona Andy Iona (born Andrew Aiona Long, January 1, 1902 – November 9, 1966) was an American musician and one of Hawaii's most influential musicians. He was a composer, songwriter, conductor, saxophonist, and steel guitarist. He went to the Kamehameh ...

. The Chiang & Coates documentary "To You, Sweetheart, Aloha" was created to celebrate 94 year old Tapia's life. Tapia was an associate of Sonny Cunha and played with the Johnny Noble Band at the opening of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927. He taught Shirley Temple and Clark Gable to strum the ukulele. He was also the ukulele player on Bing Crosy's hit "Blue Hawaii." Despite his long life, Tapia did not record any music until 2004 when he put out his first CD at the age of 96. On March 23, 2004, he provided a detailed interview for the

NAMM Oral History Program The NAMM Oral History Program is an oral history project and archive of recordings of interviews with people from all aspects of the music products industry, including Music store, music instrument retailers, musical instrument and product creato ...

collection about his impressive career and life in music. He recalled designing several instruments for many of his luthier friends as well as improvement and adjustments to the uke he had over the years. He continued to perform and record at an advanced age, all the while remaining in vigorous health and driving a car until his 100th birthday when he began suffering eyesight problems. Tapia was a featured performer in ''Mighty Uke: The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog'', a 2010 documentary on the ukulele. In 2011, he was awarded The Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. Tapia died in his sleep on December 2, 2011, a month short of turning 104.

Discography

* Tropical Swing, 2004 * Duke of Uke, 2005 * Livin' It Live, 2009 * Young at Heart: Japan Live, 2009 * Live Warner Grand Theatre: 100th Birthday Concert, 2009

References

External links

Interview with Uncle Bill Tapia – Part I
– Free internet podcast featuring interview with Uncle Bill Tapia (part 1).
Interview with Uncle Bill Tapia – Part II
– Free internet podcast featuring interview with Uncle Bill Tapia (part 2).
Uncle Bill Tapia Official Home PageAward-winning PBS documentary film about Bill Tapia: "To You Sweetheart, Aloha"Interview with Bill Tapia
NAMM Oral History Library (2004) 1908 births 2011 deaths American men centenarians Musicians from Honolulu American people of Portuguese descent Ukulele players from Hawaii Mountain Apple Company artists {{US-jazz-musician-stub