Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:02 am
Bill was in fine form for a guy who's 99 and 11/12ths years old. . I'd say the show was actually about 60% jazz standards and 40% Hawaiian. I'd thought it was going to be kind of a tribute show, with a short set from the "birthday boy," but Bill and the band that accompanied him (guitar, drums and upright bass, played by a young woman who also sang and scatted) played almost the entire show, more than an hour and a half.
This was a return appearance at the Warner Grand for Mr. Tapia. He last played there in 1935.
Jim's appearance was quite brief, two of his slack key songs right after intermission and then one number with Kapo and a very eyecatching hula troupe (what's the word for a hula school? I think I knew it once).
Bill closed the show with "Young At Heart." And I'd say he is.
Then everyone got invited up on stage to meet Bill and eat birthday cake. I accepted the cake, but Bill was ensconced in "autograph hell" so I decided that he probably wouldn't much miss not shaking the hand of yet another person he didn't know, so I meandered into the lobby with Diva and Greg and we chatted with Jim for a few minutes.
A good evening. And anybody who's a fan of really fantastic Art Deco theatres shouldn't miss this one.
This was a return appearance at the Warner Grand for Mr. Tapia. He last played there in 1935.
Jim's appearance was quite brief, two of his slack key songs right after intermission and then one number with Kapo and a very eyecatching hula troupe (what's the word for a hula school? I think I knew it once).
Bill closed the show with "Young At Heart." And I'd say he is.
Then everyone got invited up on stage to meet Bill and eat birthday cake. I accepted the cake, but Bill was ensconced in "autograph hell" so I decided that he probably wouldn't much miss not shaking the hand of yet another person he didn't know, so I meandered into the lobby with Diva and Greg and we chatted with Jim for a few minutes.
A good evening. And anybody who's a fan of really fantastic Art Deco theatres shouldn't miss this one.