Candy Dulfer presents The Purple Jam

Candy Dulfer brings The Purple Jam to TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht on 2 July 2026. The Amsterdam-born alto saxophonist grew up in the club scene, founded Funky Stuff at fourteen and from the outset moved between jazz, funk and pop. Her breakthrough came in the late 1980s with “Lily Was Here,” her duet with Dave Stewart. With the solo album Saxuality (1990) she forged her own path, followed by releases such as Sax-a-Go-Go, Big Girl, Right in My Soul, Candy Store, Together and We Never Stop. On stage and in the studio she worked extensively with Prince, a collaboration that makes her affinity for groove, tight hooks and R&B influences clearly audible.

The Purple Jam is the arena in which Dulfer and her band let compactly written themes unfold into open sections. Riffs are set down and then released, the alto sound fills the space and shifts between direct melodies and accessible improvisation. The rhythm section keeps the pulse driving, while the horn lines hold tightly around the songs. In this way Dulfer glides effortlessly between new material and tracks from her catalogue without losing momentum. A set that stretches the boundary between song and jam, on 2 July 2026 at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht.