Candy Dulfer Interview

INTERVIEW WITH CANDY DULFER FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

Candy Dulfer is considered one of the premiere jazz saxophonists in the US, Europe and Asia. This native of Holland talks about her music, her start in music, and the influence of her father.

DM) Your father was a well known jazz musician. When did you decide that you wanted to follow in his footsteps?

CD) I think in the womb from my mom; I was always listening to music. I started playing the saxophone at six years of age. It was just lying around the house and I decided to learn it myself. He never pushed me. I never really thought about it, I just started picking it up on my own.

DM) I thought the sax wasn't exactly the easiest instrument to learn on your own?

CD) Well, when I was growing up, I had the chance to hear and see my father play every day. I was going to concerts even when I was a baby, so eventually I learned the breathing and how to hold the instruments, by watching. And I probably inherited some of the talent from my father too!

DM) Do you remember one of the first songs you played when you were six years old?

CD) I don't remember exactly. Besides the regular lesson plan books, the first song might have been "My Little Red Shoes" by Charlie Parker.

DM) I'm surprised that Charlie Parker's was one of your first songs.

CD) Well, Charlie Parker was one of my first influences. He really helped determine my style.

DM) It looks like you have six albums released in America and a few different releases in Asia, and of course your releases in Europe. Where is your biggest fan base?

CD) It's split in the middle. Each region sells roughly the same number of albums. We travel between all of those countries because each one has its own parts that make it more fun.

DM) On this album, you have Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. How did that come about?

CD) Well, a few years ago we were working on a fill score together. The director said to him, "If you ever need a saxophone player, there's this girl in Holland that I know...", and then he introduced us. We always talked about doing something together ever since then, and this year we were doing another song for a movie and we decided it was time to do it again. It was so much fun to be able to improvise with Dave.

DM) I was also surprised to find that your father was on this album, too.

CD) He always does this. If we have a song that we think he'll like to record on, he plays on our albums--and sometimes I'll play on his.

DM) Do you find that your fan bases ever cross over?

CD) Well, the people who like his music are musically rounded. They like some jazz and sometimes hip-hop and pop. And that's how I am playing all of those styles within my music. It's a part of my personality as well. I don't listen to just one type of music.