David Kaffinetti, a longtime Bay Area resident best known as a former member of the parody rock act Spinal Tap, died on July 11 in Folkestone, England, the same seaside town where he was born.

The musician, who gained fame playing the role of keyboardist Viv Savage in the 1984 cult-classic film “This Is Spinal Tap,” was 79. No cause of death was reported.

News of his death was confirmed by one of his former bands — Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom — on its Facebook page. Kaffinetti played with the group for more than a decade until 2022, when he moved back to the United Kingdom.

“Our brother David Kaffinetti passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday,” the Facebook post dated July 13 reads. “We are devastated by this event. David always had a kind word and a quick wit that would slay you where you stand. Then he’d make you smile doing it! RIP dear brother.”

“David was one of the kindest, gentle, most even-keeled people I’d ever met,” said Jimmi Ward, a Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom bandmate. “I learned so much about music from playing with him.”

Word of Kaffinetti’s death drew a wave of reactions, with many of his friends and associates posting their reactions to the news on social media.

“Our friend and @spinaltap band member @kaffinetti passed away,” a post reads on the Instagram page of Brand New Pack, a psychedelic folk-rock act from Oakland. “Dave was amazing guy. I had the opportunity to open for his band MOAWK featuring my close friend @tomfalletti, hang out with him, and even have him record keyboards on a tune I produced. We’ll miss your infectious laugh and great playing.”

Besides appearing in the classic movie comedy “This Is Spinal Tap,” Kaffinetti (also known as David Kaff) reportedly performed as a member of the fictional band during its appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in 1984.

Born David Ewer in England in 1946, and a lover of literature, he is said to have derived the name Kaffinetti as a a cross between novelist Franz Kafka and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Kaffinetti was also known for his work in the prog-rock act Rare Bird, which released five studio albums during its run from 1969 to 1975 and scored a hit in its native U.K. with the single “Sympathy.” In 1972, Kaffinetti went into the studio with Chuck Berry for The London Chuck Berry Sessions, which produced the No. 1 single “My Ding-a-Ling.”

He was very active in the Bay Area music scene during his more than 30 years living in the East Bay, playing with a variety of bands including Sezu, Bluesetta, Kaitlen Cairn, Dave Ridnell/Equilibria, Full House Rhythm Kings, Hannaberry Jam, Kari and the Sweet Spots, Linda and the Imperial Band, Metrovox, Passion Pirates, Sonic Boomerang, Tattoo Blue, Valerie Jay and the Americanos, and Yahoo BBQ.

Bay Area musician Kathy Ray played with Kaffinetti in the band Sezu for 13 years, along with guitarist Randy Hutchinson and drummer Peter Tucker. The band, whose members were close friends, featured a lot of Kaffinetti’s original jazz instrumental tunes and played hundreds of shows until Kaffinetti stopped playing in 2020 after a stroke.

“It was a really wonderful run of friendship, we had something very special,” Ray said. “He was magically gifted, a true English gentleman and the best friend you could ever have.”

In a reference to one of the most famous lines in the film “This is Spinal Tap,” Ray, of Castro Valley, added: “He went to 11!”

Ray described Kaffinetti as a sensitive, bighearted and emotional man who loved a good party. He was a rock and roller, she said, but also an intellectual who was very refined and cultured.

“He had a way of stealing the scene with that laugh and a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he brightened so many lives just being himself,” she said.

And there were plenty of Spinal Tap-type stories, like the time Kaffinetti fell off the stage during a gig with Sezu at the Monkey House in Berkeley. The band happened to catch the incident on video as its keyboard player disappeared behind the stage, until the band suddenly heard a disembodied voice saying: “I’m OK; I was relaxed!”

Kaffinetti was humble and loved when people would ask for his autograph, but according to Ray, he told his sister shortly before he died that he felt that he never made the “big time.”

“The sad thing is that he didn’t realize it, but he DID make the big time and he affected the hearts of millions of people around the world,” Ray said. “When he said ‘Have a good time, all the time,’ in the movie, he really lived it.”