Dave Kelbie is an in demand rhythm guitarist who has worked with a number of legends of gypsy jazz and more recently hot jazz. He is the founder of the Lejazzetal record label which has produced mny of our favorite albums in recent years. The following interview was conducted by email this summer.
Joe Bebco: Your professional career as a rhythm guitarist began with Fapy Lefertin in the late 1980s, can you describe what the scene was like at that time and how it changed in the decade to follow.
Dave Kelbie: Lafertin’s significance and influence in that pre-Gypsy jazz late 80s scene was unparalleled so playing with him on my first professional gig was a real lucky hit which has impacted everything I’ve done subsequently. A classic jazz equivalent would be with someone of the status of Benny Goodman.
Fapy and I still work together occasionally but that first stretch with him, the realization that I was involved with something really special pretty much kicked everything off.. the promoting music thing, the record company thing, the eclectic taste, and the guitar career. It also firmly placed me in the rhythm seat of everything that followed. In those days Fapy was idolized but I had no guitar experience, had just got into Django so had little idea who Fapy was which may be why we hit it off from the beginning.
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