His accent is Mexican. His look is...

His accent is Mexican. His look is African-American. And his music is “Tropical Funk Jazz.”

Guitarist Gaston Rene, a black American of Jamaican heritage who grew up in Mexico City, exemplifies diversity.

A Pasadena resident for 17 years, Rene was a sought-after session guitarist backing up name acts in Mexico and the United States when he opted to search for his own unique sound. The resulting blend of music--lightly Brazilian and slightly jazzy with a danceable funk beat--bears a name of Rene’s own devising.

“I call it Tropical Jazz, a little bit funky,” Rene has said of his mix of Caribbean, Latin and African rhythms.

During performances, Rene’s guitar can mimic the drizzle in an Amazon rain forest or a bumblebee’s flight. Other times, he abandons his instrument for soft, jazz-scat singing.

“We don’t want to sing in a specific language, but do it (scat) so that the whole world can understand our music,” Rene has said.

For the past year, Rene and his three-person band, formerly called Mazatlan, have played clubs in Pasadena, attracting an appropriately diverse crowd.

The affable musician and his band perform at 8 tonight at Menage Club Cafe, 119 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. There is no cover charge and no age limit.