Funked Up!

Album Review

Candy Dulfer's identity as a contemporary jazz musician has not wavered since she entered the professional music arena. A sex kitten on the outside and a very talented alto saxophonist whose sound is directly derived from David Sanborn 30 years past tense, the image-driven Dulfer continues on her path toward making music that is consistent, and at the very least competent. Funked Up! does not stray at all from the more R&B-infused sound she employs, and there are distinct futuristic Euro-dance elements like robotic voices, space soul, and drum machines that up the ante. Dulfer employs a big-band sound with handclaps during "First in Line," while a much hipper chart for the horns crops up on the authentic R&B-flavored "Be Cool." The introductory lyric line of "My Funk" (emphasizing "it's not your funk") talks self-indulgently about creatin' when it's really all about producin'. The remainder of the music ranges from upbeat Euro-disco to Latin dance on "Step Up," the deliberate mechanical rhythms of "Don't Go," the retro party tune "Finger Poppin'," and the spaced-out rave-up "Roppongi Panic." The slow funk of "Bliss 2 This" features an intimate vocal late-night foreplay sex tape, while the straight funk-pop tune "CD 101.9" samples a radio DJ from the station calling Dulfer dynamic on-air. The band does stretch a bit on the slowed lovers reggae "True & Tender" and the deeper bass and rhythm-infused "Still I Love You." ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi