Rene Avenant and Nisha Peires Doing Sultans of Swing

Sultans of Swing (Mark Knoffler Cover with Nisha Peiris)

Apache was written by Jerry Lordan and made famous by Hank Marvin of the Shadows in 1960.

Apache (Hank Marvin Cover)

Black Magic woman, Originally by Pete Green, made popular by Carlo Santana. In this rendition I try and pay tribute to both master guitarists.

Black Magic Woman(Pete Green/Santana Cover)

Call Me The Breeze  was written by JJ Cale. I  like the  Lynyrd Skynyrd  Cover  the most because of all the cool guitar fills and the full brass backing

Call Me The Breeze (JJ Cale / Lynyrd Skynyrd  Cover)

Villa Nova Junction was the last number of Hendrix's set at Woodstock played late Monday morning as the last 10% of the the audience were packing up to go home.

Villa Nova Junction (Hendrix Tribute)

An old faithful with a slight Latin twist.

Summertime

The Iconic Sleepwalk, originally by Santo and Johnny then covered by Hank Marvin, The Ventures , Les Paul, Jeff Beck, Larry Carlton, Brian Setzer, Rene Avenant and just about any guitarist worth their salt.

Sleepwalk

ZZ Top's La Grange, one of my favorites to perform

La Grange

I've always wanted cover this Stevie Ray Vaughn masterpiece. I hope I have done it justice.

Lenny (SRV Instrumental)

This is  a number that I have wanted to cover for a very long time, not only because of the ingenious lyrics of Steely Dan telling the story of the enigmatic Owsley Stanley but also the masterfully crafted lead solos by Larry Carlton

Kid Charlemagne

This goes back to 1996. This was pre Windows so I punched this one in using a Midi  piano roll in DOS.  The Echo had to be manually inputted as well. #FunTimeWasHadByAll

Echo

A Night In Tunisia ( Dizzy Gillespie Jazz Standard)

I've being playing and teaching Samba Pa Ti  for at about 40 years. The other  day a friend  asked if I would record my version... so here it is

Samba Pa Ti (Santana Tribute)

I was born in the southern suburbs of Cape Town in 1959, and have searched for music in the sounds around me as far back as I can remember.  Often as a child I would try to make my own instruments with wood, wire and nails, or even play with sound by vibrating my ruler up and down the edge of my schooldesk.

In 1969 I was given a guitar for Christmas. My brother, who could play a little, attempted to teach me some basic chords but soon gave up as the strings were about an inch away from the fretboard, making holding a chord down a Herculean challenge.

After three years I bought my brother's red Hofner electric guitar from him. By this point, I had also begun teaching my cousin John Mair to accompany me on guitar, and within two years we had become guitar legends in the Southern Suburbs, playing in makeshift rock bands at school dances and community festivals by the time we were 16. 

Although my father was a passionate collector of east coast Jazz, formal education in music was discouraged in our house. I undertook to study music in the enclaves of my bedroom and the local public library, immersing myself in an eclectic brew of Harmony, Counterpoint, Sonata form, Bebop, Cyclic Jazz, Eastern Quarter Tone, Acoustic, African and Latin rhythm patters and anything else that could be found under the general heading of "music". 

After I left school I was conscripted to 2 years of military service and persuaded to study Commerce. I joined the corporate world for 18 years at first as a financial information analyst and then a computer analyst programmer.

In 1990s I discovered MIDI and the ability to connect computers to synthesizers and make music. This triggered a compositional orgasm in my life: I was now able to compose for any range of instruments I chose, and in any style I could imagine!

In 1992 I met Alfred Hinkel of Jazzart Dance Company, who was looking for new, exciting and different music to use in his dance productions. I was intrigued by the idea of composing to motion, and a relationship was forged between Jazzart and me, keeping me musically stimulated for over a decade.

By the beginning of the 21st century I began to miss the spontaneity of performing live music. The stage bug really bit hard one Saturday night in 2005 when my brother-in-law spontaneously asked me to accompany him on lead guitar at a pub gig in the South of England.

Over the last 6 years I have joined and formed a number of blues/rock bands, as lead guitarist and part time singer, which have played local clubs, pubs and occasional blues festivals around the Western Cape.

I am currently teaching guitar bass and music production. I play with The Hellfire Blues Club, compose songs, study music at Berklee online, as well as do solo shows as Renesongs.

Renesongs

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