Joseph Fiddler, the funk musician known as Amp Fiddler who was acclaimed for solo work and collaborations with generations of diverse musicians, has died aged 65.
A statement on social media read: “Detroit’s own world renowned ambassador of funk, soul, & electronic music, keyboardist, producer, afro-futurist, and guiding force of light for so many, has transitioned at the age of 65. After an extensive and noble battle with cancer, he now gracefully rests in peace and power.”
Born and raised in Detroit, Fiddler began playing keyboards and making demos of his own work. One of these found its way to George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic, who in 1984 invited Fiddler to work with him. Fiddler toured with the band for over a decade, and appeared with the group on Prince song We Can Funk. In the 1980s he also played on sessions with Warren Zevon and Was (Not Was).
Moving into the 1990s, Fiddler played on early demo recordings by neosoul singer Maxwell, and contributed to his double platinum debut album Urban Hang Suite. He played on Seal’s second album (including the hit Kiss From a Rose), on Primal Scream’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up, and on Would I Lie To You?, the global hit by Charles & Eddie.
He opened up a new side to his style by collaborating with Detroit house producer Moodymann. “A lot of us in Detroit do things for each other in a way,” Fiddler later said. “We give a lot to each other without a lot of expectations and there’s not a lot of ego involved.”
Another Detroit great who Fiddler crossed paths with was the young J Dilla – Fiddler mentored the hip-hop producer on the MPC sampler that would become a key part of his creativity, and introduced him to Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, who took his work to a wider audience. Dilla and Fiddler were also creative partners, the producer contributing a number of tracks on Fiddler’s most commercially successful solo album, his 2004 Amp Fiddler debut Waltz of a Ghetto Fly (he had previously released an album as Mr Fiddler in 1990).
Corinne Bailey Rae was among the guests on follow-up Afro Strut, followed by an album-length collaboration with Sly and Robbie, Inspiration Information. After a hiatus, he returned in 2016 with Motor City Booty, and released three more albums, most recently Basementality in 2021.
His connections with the dance music world continued, making contributions to records by the likes of Carl Craig, Model 500, Basement Jaxx and Scuba. His most recent work came as a co-writer on The Omnichord Real Book, the latest album by neo-soul singer Meshell Ndegeocello.
Broadcaster and label head Gilles Peterson was among those paying tribute, calling Fiddler “Detroit royalty … a huge influence on musicians from all sides of the globe – he connected generations and scenes … a mentor to so many”.
Drummer and film director Questlove wrote: “Rest easy brother Amp. For all those talks during the Pfunk tour. For all the music. Especially of course mentoring the one who mentored us [Dilla] – thank you brother.”
