Freight and Salvage: Bill Tapia w/ special guest Mihana
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Bill Tapia w/ special guest Mihana
Thursday, February 24, 2005
97 year old 'ukulele legend
Door 7:30pm, Music 8:00pm | Purchase advance tickets: $18.50

Alluringly described by one old friend as "the Hawaiian version of the Buena Vista Social Club," 96-year-old (soon to celebrate his 97th birthday) Hawaiian 'ukulele legend, Bill Tapia is a living cultural treasure whose professional memories span nearly a century. A consummate showman and charismatic raconteur, Bill has had a colorful musical career that began in 1918 when he bought his first 'uke, and included teaching the instrument to stars like Clark Gable, Jimmy Durante, and Shirley Temple, an era spent as a mainland jazzman sitting in with the likes of Louis Armstrong, and stretching to his induction into the Ukulele Hall of Fame in 2004. Fittingly, Bill's colorful life was recently the subject of a public television documentary, To You Sweetheart, Aloha, which premiered at the Hawaii International Fim Festival last fall. As a musician, Bill left a unique stamp on Hawaiian jazz as one of the first great improvisers to play jazz standards on the 'ukulele -- and he's still going strong! Joining Bill for this amazing night of music spotlighting his new album, Duke of Uke (MoonRoom) is special guest, guitarist and vocalist I. Mihana, known for her work with her late mother, Irmgard Aluli, in the harmonious Hawaiian music group Puamana, and for the Hoku (Hawaiian Grammy) for Best Jazz Album, which she won for her more recent work.

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