Many labels have been applied to the music performed by Dutch alto saxophonist Candy Dulfer, including, smooth jazz and funk, but it is perhaps the superlatives that her fans use to describe her music that is most accurate, words like, unbelievable, wonderful, incredible and awesome.

Speaking to me on the phone from the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, where she was performing, Dulfer said, “I just make albums that I like, and if smooth (jazz) radio picks it up, then it is a great thing. I never want it to be the other way around, making music, that hopefully radio will pick up. I don’t think that is being true to myself. A lot of people seem to like the relaxed stuff that I do.”

Equally telling are her comments concerning the success that she experienced early in her career, at age nineteen, with the debut CD Saxuality, released in 1990. More than one million copies of Saxuality were sold.  “My main goal wasn’t to make a video (“Lily Was Here, with Dave Stewart) or a hit album. My main goal was to be a little bit famous,” she says sounding a lot like Billy Crudup’s character Russell Hammond, in Cameron Crowe’s movie Almost Famous. 

Almost sounding like she imagines her star to have dimmed somewhat since 1990 the sax lady says, “I liked it while it lasted, but I never sold a million (CDs) again. I didn’t grow attached to it because it wasn’t what I was about. (Before Saxuality) I would go on stage to perform three or four songs and people would go, ‘Hmm, okay, I like it, hmm.’ By the end (of the concert), I would get the people going. When you have a hit single, however, people will start screaming before you ever get on stage. I hated it. I liked the fact that before (the fame) I had to prove myself every night. I found it a blessing that (the fame) didn’t last too long because I knew I was going to have to work really hard to maintain what I had already achieved. I think I have done a pretty good job of that, and I am proud of it. “

Other artists such as Prince, Chaka Khan, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Van Morrison, Maceo Parker, David Sanborn, Beyoncé, Pink Floyd, George Duke, Blondie, Jamie Cullum, Jonathan Butler, Alan Parsons and George Duke, are just a few of the higher profile artists, representing numerous musical genres, who would take exception with Candy Dulfer’s opinions about her stature in the industry. They and many artists like them should know best because she has shared the stage and/or recording studio with all of them.

Dulfer attributes hard work and risk taking as two elements that have allowed her to continue to perform at a high level. “Sometimes you have to be ambitious and do stuff that you thought you would never do. Other times you have to hold back, even though doing something else would sell more records,” she says.

Watching Dulfer perform in concert, you quickly realize that her onstage persona is that of a party girl, without any of the negative connotations usually associated with that description. She simply likes to have fun and to help others have fun while they listen to her music. “I don’t think that a concert is really interesting unless the musicians communicate with each other onstage, and the band communicates with the audience. I really don’t see any point in getting onstage without having fun,” she says.