She even plays a prominent role in the video of his hit single "Partyman" and performs with Prince on Saturday Night Live. There, Candy records saxophone parts for The Time, Jil Jones, Patti LaBelle and, of course, Prince - contributing to his soundtrack album Graffiti Bridge. His Royal Badness is very impressed and asks her to work on some more projects with him in the States. Two days later, Prince apologizes and invites her to join him on stage for an impromptu blues. She writes Prince a note saying that he missed an excellent chance to see a girl 'play her ass off' on the saxophone. At the last minute, Prince cancels the support act for his three shows in The Netherlands. While being on tour, Funky Stuff is scheduled to perform as a support act for another megastar, Prince. The final show, at the famous Paradiso club in Amsterdam, sells out weeks in advance. The band plays sell-out gigs across the country for more than a year.
Fortunately, the people love the 'new' Funky Stuff.
#Candy dulfer professional#
She turns them all down.Īfter opening for Madonna at the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam in 1987 - a much-talked-about performance which the band largely improvised - Candy starts up a new, more professional edition of Funky Stuff in early '88. Several record companies offer her a deal. The media catches up on this rising star and Candy appears on national radio and television, while doing many interviews with the press. At fourteen, she starts her own band Funky Stuff, which quickly gains a loyal following. She also teams up with a band called Own Cultivation - the band with the lowest average age ever to perform at that festival.īy joining her father Hans on several occasions and doing many jamsessions in the club circuit of Amsterdam, Candy is getting known among musicians as a hot new talent. 'Rosa taught me many things and encouraged me to become a bandleader myself,' Candy says. A year later, at the tender age of twelve, she performs at the famous North Sea Jazz Festival with Rosa King as a member of her "Ladies Hornsection". Of course aided by her father who, after only a few months of music lessons, puts her on stage together with his band to perform her first ever solo!Īt eleven years old, Candy makes her first recording together with Hans. There she switches from soprano to alto saxophone - which is still her favourite instrument to this day.Īside from some basic musical training she receives in the brassband, Candy pretty much teaches herself the following years. Her father Hans Dulfer, a renowned jazz saxophone player himself, recognises the talent of his little girl and enters her into the local brassband Jeugd Doet Leven in Zuiderwoude. Not only will they perform well-known songs from Candy’s extensive back catalogue, but some exciting covers as well, along with some musical surprises.Born September 19th 1969 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Candy Dulfer is six years old when she starts playing the saxophone. Following a highly successful tour in 2013 – playing festivals and venues across Europe and Japan – Candy continues to perform with her energetic new band this year, with shows all over Europe, the USA, Japan and Russia. The resulting live album & dvd ‘Live at the Ziggo Dome’, capturing the magic of those nights, was released in April and went straight to Number 1 in the Album & iTunes charts. In February 2014 – following their hit single “I’ll Carry You” – they performed two massive sold-out showsat the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, entertaining over 34,000 fans. At the end of 2013, Candy and her longtime friends Trijntje Oosterhuis, Edsilia Rombley, Berget Lewis and Glennis Grace formed the supergroup Ladies of Soul.
Also, in 2013 Candy was a celebrity judge & talent coach on the Dutch edition of X Factor.
Shows at their stores across Europe, and releasing a special fashion collection designed by Candy herself. She also started a close collaboration with leading fashion brand Mexx, playing special instore After the album’s release she and her band toured in the USA, Japan, Europe, Russia, the Baltic States, and – for the first time in her career – in South America. The close collaboration with Black Eyed Peas musical director and producer Printz Board forms the foundation of the daring new sound of the album. Candy started another exciting new chapter in her versatile career with the release of her album ‘Crazy’ in the Fall of 2011.