Bill Tapia, 100, uke virtuoso
Eddie O'Strange
the crowds
>By John Berger
>jbe...@starbulletin.com
><mailto:jbe...@starbulletin.com?subject=http://starbulletin.com/2008/02/22/>
>
>With 90 years experience as a professional entertainer, Bill Tapia knows
>that it's good to have new material, especially when you play a town as
>often as he's been playing Honolulu.
>
>Folks love him and with good reason. Not only is Tapia, at the age of
>100, a living link to the Hawaiian music of a century ago, but he is
>also a virtuoso musician and a thoroughly engaging entertainer on stage.
>If nothing else, the chances are slim to none you'll find another
>entertainer anywhere in the world who can introduce a song as "something
>I learned during World War I."
>
> From a historical perspective, Tapia's place in the evolution of the
>ukulele is a story in itself.
>
>But as for the new material, when Tapia was here in December,
>celebrating his 100th with a backyard luau at Mihana Souza's home in
>Kailua, he entertained the crowd with a new one-liner.
>
>It seems that after living on the mainland for 60 years, Tapia decided
>he wanted to own a home here, too.
>
>What were the terms of sale? "A 30-year mortgage."
>
>Tapia was hot on stage that afternoon, playing his uke as the guest of
>honor in a kanikapila jam that included Souza, Ledward Kaapana, Benny
>Chong, Byron Yasui and Jeff Peterson.
>
>Souza and Peterson, who performed with Tapia at the rRed Elephant last
>year, will be on stage with him again on Saturday when he celebrates his
>birthday -- again -- with a one-nighter at Diamond Head Theatre. Ernie
>Provencher, who played bass for Tapia in both engagements at the
>Elephant, joins in the festivities, as well as special guest Raiatea Helm.
>
>As for repertoire, expect anything from Hawaiian and hapa-haole
>standards to "Young at Heart," the song Tapia used as his finale at the
>Elephant last January.
>
>The song describes Tapia's outlook perfectly.
>
>It's a fact of life that when an entertainer reaches a certain age,
>there's a sense that they may not be around for much longer. There are
>also entertainers who continue on until they reach the point of being a
>novelty act, where loyal fans hope and pray their heroes can get through
>their show without forgetting where they are.
>
>But that's not Tapia, no how, no way! For him, being 100 is maybe the
>new 50, in terms of playing music and entertaining a crowd.
>
>"He was giving us the (chord) changes and calling the solos all through
>the show," Peterson said after Tapia celebrated his 99th birthday with a
>two-hour concert last January.
>
>That night, Tapia also entertained the crowd with stories of old-time
>Honolulu, like how he became interested in the ukulele after hearing his
>Hawaiian neighbors on Sereno Street, or how he persuaded Manuel Nunes,
>one of the first ukulele makers, to sell him a used uke for all the
>money he had -- 75 cents -- back in 1915. And there was the time Tapia
>was arrested at the age of 11, or maybe 12, for playing in a speakeasy
>shortly after the advent of Prohibition.
>
>And then there's the story that tops the list for those of us interested
>in the history of Hawaiian music. At the age of 10, when he was already
>playing for tips on street corners and entertaining American soldiers
>who were en route to the killing fields of World War I, Tapia heard a
>marching band play "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and followed it along
>until he had the melody memorized. He worked out an arrangement of the
>song for the ukulele, and it became an instant hit for him.
>
>Although other ukulele players are known to have played and recorded the
>song, Tapia recorded it first. Shigeo Yasui, the father of multitalented
>musician and educator Byron Yasui, recorded Tapia at an informal session
>at the Metronome Music Store in 1936. The recording would eventually be
>released commercially on Tapia's first album, "Tropical Swing," in 2004.
>
>To hear Tapia play is to hear a man who was born barely one generation
>after the ukulele evolved out of the Portuguese braguinha or machete,
>and whose first teachers came out of that first generation of Hawaiian
>ukulele players.
>
>There is, then, a definite element of historical interest when Tapia
>takes the stage. He's older than most of the pop standards he plays, but
>over and above that, he's a delightful entertainer.
>
>For Bill Tapia, age really is nothing but a number.
>
>
> BILL TAPIA CENTENARY CELEBRATION CONCERT
>
>*When:* 7 p.m. Saturday
>*Where:* Diamond Head Theatre, 520 Makapuu Ave.
>*Tickets:* $12 to $42
>*Call:* 521-9699 or visit honoluluboxoffice.com
><http://honoluluboxoffice.com>