Uncle Bill “Tappy” Tapia (born January 1, 1908) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musician, born in Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

, of Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

 parents. At age 10, Tapia was already a professional musician, playing “Stars and Stripes Forever” for World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 troops in Hawaii.

In his long career beginning in vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 and quickly expanding as a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 guitarist and ukulele

Ukulele

The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....

 player he has performed with names such as Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

, Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

, Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 and Hawaiian musicians such as King Bennie Nawahi, Sol Ho‘opi’i, and Andy Iona

Andy Iona

Andy Iona 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 Kamehameha School for Boys. He was also educated at Henri Berger's Private School of Music in Honolulu.He was a member of...

.

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 Page
• Podcast interview featuring Uncle Bill's live music and life story.
• Brief article on the life of Bill Tapia
• Award-winning PBS documentary film about Bill Tapia: "To You Sweetheart, Aloha"