We received news from Louis Greef's family last night that he was rushed to hospital in critical condition. He sadly passed away this morning.
Louis had been very ill for a long time, and was recently heralded at a benefit concert on 29 April 2012 at which fellow GFSAers Hellfire Blues appeared. I've found some video from the day showing Louis play. The first clip is just a blues jam. The 2nd is better. Bear in mind, however, that at this stage he was suffering from an affliction that resulted in him having almost no feeling in his fingertips - hence his playing was only a shadow of his true ability. Yet the standing ovation was testimony to the fact that an audience made up largely of musicians acknowledged his importance in the early SA scene:
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He will, of course, mostly be remembered for Omega Ltd's epic instrumental hit from the early days. Here's the studio track and also a live version from the 2012 benefit concert (starts at about 1:15 in). PS the clip from the concert reunited three of the Omegas.
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Brief bio in SA Rock Digest:
http://www.rock.co.za/legends/omegalimited/
And Louis in his heyday:
RIP, Louis.
