Amp Fiddler — the massively influential Detroit funk musician and producer — has died. He was 65.
After coping with an unspecified illness (a GoFundMe campaign was launched to support his recovery from surgery last year), the artist born Joseph Anthony Fiddler passed away yesterday (December 17), the Detroit Metro Times reports.
Growing up in Motor City and immersing himself in its wealth of cultural history, Fiddler started working with soul act Enchantment in the early 1980s, catching the attention of Detroit legend George Clinton, who went on to take the young singer-songwriter, keyboardist and producer under his wing. Fiddler joined Clinton's band, playing keys on the 1986 hit, "Do Fries Go with That Shake?"
The musician was part of Clinton's sister acts, Parliament and Funkadelic (P-Funk), from 1985 until 1996. During this tenure, he collaborated with a wide variety of other musicians and producers, including Prince, Warren Zevon, Corinne Bailey Rae, Primal Scream, the Brand New Heavies, Poe, Too Short, Maxwell, Moodymann, Jamiroquai and Seal, whose iconic 1994 single "Kiss from a Rose" Fiddler played keyboards on.
As a resident of Detroit's Conant Gardens, Fiddler is also widely credited with teaching his neighbour, the late J Dilla, how to use Akai's MPC sampling machine. He apparently also introduced the production tool to A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip.
After releasing his 1990 solo debut, With Respect, with his brother Bubz under the name Mr. Fiddler, started releasing electro-funk albums as Amp Fiddler in the early aughts, with 2004's Waltz of a Ghetto Fly charting in the UK. He released his most recent record, The One, with local octet Will Sessions in 2018.
After coping with an unspecified illness (a GoFundMe campaign was launched to support his recovery from surgery last year), the artist born Joseph Anthony Fiddler passed away yesterday (December 17), the Detroit Metro Times reports.
Growing up in Motor City and immersing himself in its wealth of cultural history, Fiddler started working with soul act Enchantment in the early 1980s, catching the attention of Detroit legend George Clinton, who went on to take the young singer-songwriter, keyboardist and producer under his wing. Fiddler joined Clinton's band, playing keys on the 1986 hit, "Do Fries Go with That Shake?"
The musician was part of Clinton's sister acts, Parliament and Funkadelic (P-Funk), from 1985 until 1996. During this tenure, he collaborated with a wide variety of other musicians and producers, including Prince, Warren Zevon, Corinne Bailey Rae, Primal Scream, the Brand New Heavies, Poe, Too Short, Maxwell, Moodymann, Jamiroquai and Seal, whose iconic 1994 single "Kiss from a Rose" Fiddler played keyboards on.
As a resident of Detroit's Conant Gardens, Fiddler is also widely credited with teaching his neighbour, the late J Dilla, how to use Akai's MPC sampling machine. He apparently also introduced the production tool to A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip.
After releasing his 1990 solo debut, With Respect, with his brother Bubz under the name Mr. Fiddler, started releasing electro-funk albums as Amp Fiddler in the early aughts, with 2004's Waltz of a Ghetto Fly charting in the UK. He released his most recent record, The One, with local octet Will Sessions in 2018.
