*Photos by the effervescent, everloving Matt Lambert present at the Apache Cafe, 06.12.2004*

I'd like to think of myself as one of those people who are more laid back, who absorb the music, and envelop all the love. Calling me a dancer would be a misnomer for the most part. That is, until someone kicks the beats to me and makes me move and groove. When the grooves are funkier than normal, it's impossible for me to absorb them all. And so, for that reason, I gotta dance.

Take Joseph 'Amp' Fiddler. If I attempted to elaborate on the long list of his accomplishments, it might as well be a couple of chapters of a book, if not a short encyclopedia. Think of Prince, the Brand New Heavies, Ramsey Lewis, George Clinton, the P-Funk All-Stars, the Dramatics, Primal Scream, Was (Not Was), Giles Peterson, Maxwell, and Too Short in the same sentence, and that gives you a good idea on what this man has done. He lit up the Apache Cafe on a Saturday night. The funk was in the air, and with the heat and humidity, the last thing I wanted to do was sweat.

I'm really glad I did, though.

His CD Waltz of a Ghetto Fly is the representation of his abilty to touch the masses. Live versions of his songs kick it up a notch by not only providing most of the songs on his CD, but also some interpretations added to his reportoire (mixing up Dreamin' with I'm Still In Love by Sean Paul is merely one example).



With a man with this musical resume, it's hard to imagine him having a short concert. He did not dissapoint, giving us a performance that had us standing, clapping, and singing along with him for more than two hours. This included having Paul Randolph (above left), playing his bass across his shoulders in Superficial, or Patrice and Stephanie (above right) having numerous solos between themselves (particularly in the cuts Unconditional Eyes and Possibilities, which was was more than superb), as well as giving us the freestyle vibe - a vibe that was hard to shake - that is, if you ever felt like you needed to shake it.



The following tracks from his CD Waltz of a Ghetto Fly along with one from Only Child's Solitaire are present on the 'musical melodies' on the right:

You Give Good Vibes (with Only Child)
Dreamin'
Superficial
Unconditional Eyes
Soul Divine

He's got the power. He's got the charisma. Check him out.