Flash Tavares
Feliciano Vierra Tavares
Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 1920 – Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA, 2008
Instrumentalist (guitar), singer
Flash Tavares, descendent of father from Santiago and mother from São Nicolau, had a long musical career among the Cape Verdean community in New England, several times accompanied his sister, Vickie Vierra. He is the father of the members of The Tavares Brothers, who attained international success at the end of the 1970’s, during the disco music wave.
At the age of 80, Flash was still playing guitar that he learned how to play when he was a child while listening to the older musicians in the community of Fox Point in Providence, where he was born, portrayed in the documentary Some kind of funny porto rican?, by Claire Andrade-Watkins. The director dedicated another movie to him, Building history one voice at a time, filmed in 2000, with interview and performance. They call me Flash, by Napoleão X, is another online movie in which the artist tells his own story (see links below). Flash and Vickie’s performance in the Smithsonian Festival in 1995, with participation of Joli Gonsalves, is recorded on video, not available online at the moment.
At the time of his death, Flash Tavares was referred by the South Coast Today as an icon of the Cape Verdean community in the U.S.A and an inspiration to many young people who dedicated themselves to music.
Flash didn’t leave a lot of singing recordings, but his voice was immortalized in the participation of the album So sabi: Cape Verdean from New England, integrated in the Creole Sextet.
Discography
Participation in the CD So sabi: cape verdean music from New England, 1999.
