Candy Dulfer

Hailing from the Netherlands, saxophonist and vocalist Candy Dulfer has carved out a reputation as a crossover jazz figure whose sound draws on funk, R&B, and dance music. Early public notice arrived via appearances alongside Prince, after which the musician—whose listening spanned Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis through Maceo Parker and David Sanborn—built a thriving solo career. Issued in 1990, the debut Saxuality climbed to number four on the Contemporary Jazz Chart while reaching position 22 on the Billboard 200. Chart success persisted, as every subsequent release landed among the jazz Top 20, among them 1993’s Sax-a-Go-Go, 1997’s For the Love of You, and 1999’s What Does It Take. The same pattern held for Candy Store in 2007, Funked Up in 2009, and Crazy in 2011, each entering the jazz Top Ten. Dulfer continues to move fluidly across traditions, as heard on the 2016 album Together and the 2022 set We Never Stop.

Born in Amsterdam in 1969, Dulfer grew up in a musical household as the daughter of respected jazz tenor saxophonist Hans Dulfer. She began on drums at age five, moved to soprano saxophone, and settled on alto saxophone by age seven. Although jazz formed an early passion, she absorbed AM pop, metal, hard rock, and soul during her youth. Guided by her father’s tenor playing, she studied the approaches of Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, and Dexter Gordon; the bold, swaggering tenor manner shaped her alto conception and helped her distinguish herself from the start. In time she absorbed the parallel influence of alto players Earl Bostic, Cannonball Adderley, Maceo Parker, and David Sanborn.

After performing in local concert bands, Dulfer proved accomplished enough by age ten to serve as featured soloist in her father’s ensemble. Professional work began at age 12 when she joined the band of American expatriate saxophonist/vocalist Rosa King. While with King she appeared at the North Sea Jazz Festival, where she first witnessed David Sanborn live. Encouraged by that experience and by King’s counsel, Dulfer assembled her own R&B-oriented group, Funky Stuff. Still in her teens, she and Funky Stuff opened for Madonna on several dates of the Who’s That Girl Tour. Around the same period Prince took notice, featuring her in a live concert and later in the video for his track “Partyman.” Additional high-profile engagements followed, including session contributions with Eurythmics guitarist/producer Dave Stewart and live appearances with Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin, and Pink Floyd.

Dulfer made her solo recording debut in 1990 with the Ulco Bed-produced Saxuality on RCA Records. The album achieved strong chart placement in both Europe and the United States, ultimately attaining gold certification after worldwide sales surpassed a half-million copies. Critics praised its playful yet organic treatment of smooth jazz, and the project earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

The 1991 follow-up Sax-a-Go-Go, also produced by Bed, spent a month on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. It included collaborations with the JB’s and the Tower of Power horns. Her third album, 1993’s Big Girl, proved equally successful and stylistically broad, reflecting an affinity for hip-hop and rap. Produced by Bed and multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/arranger Thomas Bank—both of whom remained frequent collaborators—the set featured a guest appearance by longtime admirer David Sanborn.

Alongside touring and guest work with other artists, Dulfer issued further genre-crossing albums that maintained strong commercial performance, including 1997’s For the Love of You and 1999’s What Does It Take?, the latter incorporating her own vocals. In 2002 she recorded Dulfer and Dulfer with her father, followed a year later by the electronic-tinged Right in My Soul. Electronic dance music, funky R&B, and Latin-inflected romantic balladry all figured on the subsequent releases Candy Store in 2007 and Funked Up! in 2009.

On 2011’s Crazy, Dulfer moved deeper into dance music, incorporating dubstep textures with producer Printz Board (the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Macy Gray). Over the ensuing years she toured extensively, served as celebrity judge and talent coach on the Dutch edition of The X Factor in 2013, and formed the all-female R&B supergroup Ladies of Soul alongside Trijntje Oosterhuis, Glennis Grace, Berget Lewis, and Edsilia Rombley. The ensemble headlined multiple concerts at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, later documented on live albums. Her twelfth studio album appeared in 2016. In 2022 she returned with We Never Stop, an R&B-infused project that included a guest appearance by funk legend and Chic-founding guitarist Nile Rodgers.