Candy Dulfer (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch jazz and pop saxophonist. She is the daughter of jazz saxophonist

Hans Dulfer Hans Dulfer (born 28 May 1940) is a Dutch jazz musician who plays tenor saxophone. Life and music Hans Dulfer was born on 28 May 1940 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He began at age 17 and has been referred to as "Big boy" because of his album of ...

. She began playing at age six and founded her band Funky Stuff when she was fourteen. Her debut album ''

Saxuality ''Saxuality'' is the debut album by Dutch alto saxophonist Candy Dulfer. Some versions of the album include the worldwide hit single " Lily Was Here" with Dave Stewart. The mainly instrumental album debuted on No. 4 in the Dutch album chart an ...

'' (1990) received a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination. She has performed and recorded with Hans Dulfer,

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 ...

, Dave Stewart,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Angie Stone Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of B ...

and

Rick Braun Rick Braun (born July 6, 1955) is a smooth jazz trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone and keyboards player, vocalist, composer, and record producer. Career Braun was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and attended Dieruff High School. His mother was a se ...

and has performed live with

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...

(1995),

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

(1990), and

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the b ...

(2014). She hosted the Dutch television series ''Candy Meets...'' (2007), in which she interviewed musicians. In 2013, she became a judge in the 5th season of the Dutch version of ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''.

Early life

Dulfer was born on 19 September 1969 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She began playing the drums at the age of five.Candy Dulfer biografie
. Retrieved on 27 November 2007. As a six-year-old, she started to play the soprano saxophone. At age seven, she switched to alto saxophone and later began playing in a local

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

Jeugd Doet Leven (English translation: "Youth Brings Life") in

Zuiderwoude Zuiderwoude is a village in the municipality of Waterland, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It lies about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the municipal administrative centre Monnickendam. In 2021, the statistical area of Zuiderwoude had a popul ...

. Dulfer played her first solo on stage with her father's band De Perikels ("The Perils"). At age eleven, she made her first recordings for the album ''I Didn't Ask'' (1981) of De Perikels. In 1982, when she was twelve years old, she played as a member of

Rosa King Rosa King (March 14, 1939 – December 12, 2000) was an American jazz and blues saxophonist and singer who made her fame in Amsterdam. Career King was born in Macon, Georgia, United States. During her career, she worked with Ben E. King, ...

's Ladies Horn section at the

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

. According to Dulfer, King encouraged her to become a band leader. In 1984, at age fourteen, she started the band Funky Stuff.

Career

Dulfer's band performed throughout the Netherlands and in 1987 was the

opening act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

for two of

Madonna's Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

European concerts. In 1988,

invited Dulfer on stage to play an improvised solo during one of his European shows. In 1989 Dulfer appeared in Prince's "

Partyman "Partyman" is a song by American musician Prince from his 1989 ''Batman'' album, and the follow-up to his number one hit, " Batdance". The song is one of the few on the album to be prominently featured in the film, accompanying the scene in which ...

" video. Dulfer performed session work with

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

guitarist and producer Dave Stewart, duetting with him on the worldwide hit single "

Lily Was Here "Lily Was Here" is an instrumental duet by English musician David A. Stewart and Dutch saxophonist Candy Dulfer. It was released as a single in 1989 from the soundtrack of the same name for the Dutch movie ''De Kassière'', also known by the E ...

" and contributing to the soundtrack of the same name. She was a guest musician for

during the band's performance at

Knebworth Knebworth is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Hert ...

in 1990, from which several tracks were released on a multi-artist live album and video, '' Live at Knebworth '90''. The Knebworth show has since been released as part of the Pink Floyd box set '' The Later Years 1987–2019'' on CD, DVD, and BD. Dulfer was also the featured saxophonist on

's '' A Night in San Francisco'', an album in 1993, and performed with

and his band at the World Liberty Concert in 1995. Dulfer collaborated with her father Hans Dulfer on the duet album ''Dulfer Dulfer'' in 2001. She joined

's band in 2004 for his

Musicology Live 2004ever Musicology Live 2004ever was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince to promote his ''Musicology'' album. The tour began on March 27, 2004 in Reno, Nevada and concluded on September 11 in San Jose, California. It was a commercial succe ...

tour. In 2007, she released her ninth studio album ''

Candy Store A confectionery store (more commonly referred to as a sweet shop in the United Kingdom, a candy shop or candy store in North America, or a lolly shop in Australia and New Zealand) sells confectionery and the intended market is usually children. M ...

''. The album reached a No. 2 position in

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Top Contemporary Jazz charts. Her songs "Candy Store" and "L.A. Citylights" reached the No. 1 position in Smooth Jazz National Airplay charts in the United States. Dulfer is mostly a self-taught musician except for some training in a concert band and a few months of

music lesson Music lessons are a type of formal instruction in playing a musical instrument or singing. Typically, a student taking music lessons meets a music teacher for one-to-one training sessions ranging from 30 minutes to one hour in length over a pe ...

s. Until 2010 Dulfer played a Selmer Mk VI alto - which is visible in the majority of early photographs. In 2010 she became an endorsee of the Dutch Free Wind saxophone, created by Friso Heidinga, who started building saxophones in Amsterdam in 2009. In 2007, Dulfer became the presenter and interviewer in ''Candy Meets...'', her television program for the Dutch public broadcaster

NPS NPS may refer to: Organizations * National Park Service, U.S. * National Pension System, India * National Pension Service, Korea * National Phobics Society, UK charity * National Piers Society, UK charity * National Poetry Slam, competition * N ...

. In the series, she met with

Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

, Hans Dulfer, Van Morrison, Dave Stewart, and

Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...

. On 26 August 2022, Dulfer announced her new album ''We Never Stop'', which released on October 28th. The release is the first as a part of her new record deal with

Mascot Label Group Mascot Label Group is an independently-owned record label. Founded in 1989 in The Netherlands under the name Mascot Records, the company was renamed Mascot-Provogue in 1999 and since 2010 has been known as the Mascot Label Group. The company is ba ...

. The album was preceded by the single "Jammin' Tonight," featuring

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

Discography

* ''

'' (1990) * ''

Sax-a-Go-Go ''Sax-a-Go-Go'' is the second album by Dutch alto saxophonist Candy Dulfer, released in 1993. It entered the US ''Billboard'' Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart at No. 5 in February 1994, remaining on the chart for 31 weeks. The album peaked at ...

'' (1993) * '' Big Girl'' (1995) * ''For the Love of You'' (1997) * ''Girls Night Out'' (1999) * ''What Does It Take'' (1999) * ''Dulfer Dulfer'' (2002) * ''Right in My Soul'' (2003) * ''

'' (2007) * ''Funked Up'' (2009) * ''Crazy'' (2011) * ''Together'' (2017) * ''We Never Stop'' (2022)

References

External links

* * *
Candy Dulfer Channel on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dulfer, Candy 1969 births Living people 21st-century saxophonists Dutch women singers Dutch jazz saxophonists English-language singers from the Netherlands Women jazz saxophonists Funk saxophonists Heads Up International artists Jazz alto saxophonists Musicians from Amsterdam Smooth jazz saxophonists New Power Generation members Bertelsmann Music Group artists