Joseph "Amp" Fiddler is clearly a man who rarely puts a foot wrong. As a result either of an exacting perfectionism or the sort of slacker-stoner workrate that makes The Stone Roses look like Speedy Gonzales on barbiturates, this Detroit native has finally made a solo album, some 14 years after the record he made with his brother Thomas flopped.
Yet for those who enjoy amassing obscure information from record sleeves, the name will surely be familiar. Since that 1990 Elektra debut ('With Respect', under the name Mr Fiddler), Amp has appeared on records by George Clinton, The Brand New Heavies, Primal Scream and Seal. He had already recorded with Was (Not Was), Warren Zevon and jazz piano legend Ramsey Lewis, and has toured with Jamiroquai and Prince.
However, it's his keyboard contributions to both 'Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite' and two albums by Charles & Eddie - including 'Duophonic', the record that contained the UK Number One 'Would I Lie To You?' - that give the most helpful frames of reference. This is soul with new shoes and an old school spirit: throughout, the beats are kept slinky, the backing taking on the sort of rustic hip hop hue well known to fans of The Roots or the production of Slum Villiage's beat-maker Jay-Dee, who turns up here, programming the D'Angelo-like 'You Played Me' and the final, funky title track, which also features George Clinton.
Whether coo-ing with a vulnerable, throaty wash of a voice (the single 'I Believe In You'), moaning like Sly Stone ('Superficial', co-authored by Raphael Saadiq) or throwing down in a nasal Stevie Wonder style ('If You Can't Get Me Off Your Mind'), Fiddler oozes class. The overall sound - tight and crisp yet rangy and relaxed - may not be groundbreaking, but it's certainly effective. Let's hope he doesn't take as long to make the next one.
