Joseph Anthony "Amp" Fiddler is an American singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and record producer from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. His musical styles include

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

music. He is probably best known for his contributions to the band Enchantment, and as part of George Clinton's

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

groups from 1985 until 1996. His first solo album ''Waltz of a Ghetto Fly'' was released in March 2004. His most recent album, ''Amp Dog Knights'', was released in 2017.

Early career

Fiddler has worked with George Clinton,

Moodymann Kenny Dixon Jr., better known by his stage name Moodymann, is an American musician based in Detroit, Michigan. He is the owner of the record labels Mahogani Music and KDJ Records. He is a member of 3 Chairs. Career In 1997, Moodymann released his ...

, Stephanie McKay,

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in the ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Was (Not Was) Was (Not Was) is an American pop rock group founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often fea ...

, the

Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New H ...

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1979, that plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the lat ...

Corinne Bailey Rae Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae (; born 26 February 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC po ...

and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

artist Maxwell. Working with his brother, Bubz (bass guitarist, producer and songwriter), he released the album ''With Respect'' in 1990 on Elektra, recording under the name Mr. Fiddler. Amp Fiddler is credited with introducing hip-hop producer

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

to the

Akai MPC The Akai MPC (originally MIDI Production Center, now Music Production Center) is a series of music workstations produced by Akai from 1988 onwards. MPCs combine sampling and sequencing functions, allowing users to record portions of sound, modif ...

sampling drum machine and also to

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

member Q-Tip, who introduced the young Dilla into the music industry world. In regards to Dilla's memory, he said:

Discography

Albums

*''With Respect'' (1990) *''Waltz of a Ghetto Fly'' (2004) - UK #82 *''Afro Strut'' (2006) - UK #126 *''Inspiration Information'' (2008) - with

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

*''Motor City Booty'' (2016) *''Kindred Live'' (2017) - with Will Sessions *''Amp Dog Knights'' (2017) *''The One'' (2018) - with Will Sessions

Singles, Maxi-singles & EP's

*"Basementality" (2002) *"Love and War" (2003) *"Possibilities" (2003) *"I Believe in You" (2003) - UK #72 *"Dreamin" (2004) - UK #71 *"Too High" (2004) *"If You Can't Get Me Off Your Mind" (2004) *"I Believe In You" (2004) *"Eye To Eye" (2004) *"Right Where You Are" (2006) *"Ridin' / Faith" (2006) *"Hope / Dope" (2006) *"If I Don't" (2007) - featuring

*"Find My Way" (2007) *"Stay Or Move On" (2008) *"Inspiration Information" (2008) - with Sly and Robbie *"Blackhouse (Paint The White House Black)" (2008) - with Sly and Robbie *"Take it" (2014) featuring

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...

*"Basementality 2" (2014) *"Bassmentality 3" (2015) *"Motor City Booty" (2016) *"So Sweet" (2017) *"Lost Without You" (2017) - with Will Sessions *"Reminiscin'" (2017) - with Will Sessions *"Rendezvous" (2017) - with Will Sessions *"Keep Coming" (2019)

References

External links

* *
Amp Fiddler
interview by Pete Lewis in

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as '' NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a ...

, October 2008
Amp Fiddler
interview in Clubbity
Amp Fiddler
interview by SoulRnB.com
Amp Fiddler
lecture at

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

interview by Andre J. Ellington for Rollingout.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiddler, Amp 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers African-American male singer-songwriters American funk keyboardists American funk singers American soul keyboardists American soul singers Living people P-Funk members Singers from Detroit Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Michigan