Joseph “Amp” Fiddler was, famously, the man who introduced the legendary Detroit producer J Dilla to his fabled MPC1000 sampler. But what matters more is what Dilla was doing in Amp’s studio in the first place. Fiddler, who died in December 2023 at the age of 65, was the connective tissue between so many artists and so many musical movements that sprung from the land of Motown. In the ’80s, the multi-instrumentalist replaced keyboardist Bernie Worrell in Parliament-Funkadelic, and through the ’90s and beyond he worked as a studio and touring musician for the likes of Prince, Maxwell, Primal Scream, Too $hort and many more. But just as crucial as his playing to the funk and soul artists he assisted was his impact on dance music and hip-hop. His contributions to records from Moodymann and Theo Parrish would ultimately give rise to the jazz-heavy sound that characterised Detroit house and deep house, and his production guidance with Dilla and Slum Village would leave an equally indelible mark on the sound of conscious hip-hop for decades to come. And that’s to say nothing of Fiddler’s own solo recordings (always packed with guests who revered him), which followed his muse as it flitted across all manner of soulful music.