If you were a classical composer living in the 18th century, your dream was to be in Vienna, the heart of Europe’s music scene at the time. If you are a soul musician alive today, Detroit is your city. From Motown to Techno, Detroit has continually defined soul music for the rest of the world. At least, for now its not practical to take the whole People family over to Detroit for a Saturday night. So, instead, let’s bring one of Detroit’s finest to thePeople.
Amp Fiddler is a living example of the Detroit ethos, a versatile musician’s musician who has appeared on stage and on record with the world’s greatest talents from Prince to Maxwell, and from J-Dilla to Moodyman. In fact the list of collabs is too long for a party invite (Raphael Saadiq, Q-tip, Corrine Bailey Rae, Fishbone, Brand New Heavies, Jamiriquai, ok we’ll stop…), but it includes names from every shade of soul you can think of: funk, hip-hop, r&b, neo-soul, nu-jazz, house and more. At the same time, using his trademark concoction of raw, almost gospel-like soulfulness, coated with warm, honey-sweet layers of jazzy tonality, served on top of a bed of solid rhythm, Amp managed to carve out a unique space for his solo work on two celebrated albums since 2004. His latest incarnation as an icon of true music heads the world over is inspired by the many musical lives he’s lived before – including a decade long stint playing keys for George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic.
Continue reading ‘thePeople with live performance by Amp Fiddler’
Viva La Hip Hop 