Dexter Gilman Wansel (born August 22, 1950) is an American R&B/

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

artist, singer, arranger, musician, composer, conductor, synthesist and A&R director.

Early life

Dexter Wansel began as an errand boy backstage at the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia from 1959 through 1963 for his step-uncle Georgie Woods. There he met many great artists who encouraged him to pursue music. During high school, he and his friend,

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fus ...

, performed in bands together.

Career

In 1970, after being honourably discharged from the United States Army, Wansel quietly joined the ranks of synthesists like

Wendy Carlos Wendy Carlos (born Walter Carlos; November 14, 1939) is an American musician and composer known for electronic music and film scores. Born and raised in Rhode Island, Carlos studied physics and music at Brown University before moving to New Y ...

and Dick Hyman, where he began programming the

EMS VCS 3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analogue synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (EMS) in 1969. EMS released the product ...

'Putney' and the

ARP 2600 The ARP 2600 is a subtractive synthesizer first produced by ARP Instruments in 1971. History Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Alan R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 as the successor to ...

for sessions at

Sigma Sound Studios Sigma Sound Studios was an American independent recording studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1968 by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia. Located at 212 North 12th Street in Philadelphia, Sigma Sound is closely associated with Philade ...

both credited and uncredited. From the early to mid 1970s, Wansel also played keyboards for groups such as

Instant Funk Instant Funk were an American 1970s and 1980s disco band, best known for their disco classic, " I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl)". History Instant Funk came out of Trenton, New Jersey consisting of Raymond Earl, drummer Scotty Mill ...

, Yellow Sunshine, and MFSB. After signing with Philadelphia International Records, as in-house songwriter/producer/arranger, he established a songwriting relationship with the lyricist Cynthia Biggs. He also collaborated with other writers such as Bunny Sigler, T. Life,

Vinnie Barrett Vinnie Barrett (born Gwendolyn Hines Woolfolk; 1945) is an American songwriter and musician. Career Barrett graduated from Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C. She studied music at Howard University and the University of the District of Colu ...

and

Kenneth Gamble Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as P ...

. Wansel produced, wrote, arranged, played keyboards and synthesized hits for artists at

Philadelphia International Records Philadelphia International Records was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. The ...

as well as numerous other labels. In 1977, he produced the

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-winning album '' Unmistakably Lou'' by

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...

. Wansel's music has been used as samples in the world of hip-hop. His 1975 "Theme from The Planets" drum beat intro, is hailed as being one of the first foundation beats of hip-hop. This beat continues to be sampled today and can also be heard on TV commercials and in movies. His sampled music has been used by The Lox,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

, J Cole, Eric B and Rakim,

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

, Lil Kim,

Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...

and

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

. In 1979 as conductor of the world-famous MFSB Orchestra, Wansel was the music director/conductor for the historic show at the White House commemorating the very first 'Black Music History Month' celebration in 1978. From 1978 through 1980, Dexter Wansel was the A+R Director for

where he oversaw many album releases by the label's artists including MFSB’S Mysteries Of The World, and The Stylistics, Hurry Up This Way Again, under the direction of

Gamble and Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

. His LP ''Time Is Slipping Away'', recorded in 1979, produced his second disco-themed hit (his first was "Disco Lights" in 1977) called "(I'll Never Forget) My Favorite Disco" co-written by Cynthia Biggs. It proved to be highly successful on the US club scene. In 1981, he wrote and arranged the song ''Nights Over Egypt'' for the Jones Girls. In April 2021, Wansel signed a new record deal with Digital Jukebox Records.

Influence on Jamiroquai

Jay Kay Jason "Jay" Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham, 30 December 1969) is a British singer and songwriter. In 1992, he co-founded the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai and still serves as their lead vocalist. As of 2017, the band had sold more than 26 ...

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai ( ) are an English acid jazz and funk band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

said that his love for jazz and funk was kickstarted when he was around fourteen or fifteen years old by Wansel's "Life on Mars", with Kay recalling on a BBC interview guest spot that he used to play the song over and over again on repeat with a friend.

Personal life

Wansel is the father of Grammy-nominated music producer and songwriter Pop Wansel; additionally, he is a U.S. Army Veteran of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

era (

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

). He has authored a novel entitled ''Shortwave'', published in 2011. Dexter Wansel is the brother of author Teri Woods.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Selected production discography

The Jacksons The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

- ''

'', 1976 *

- '' All Things in Time'', 1976 *The Jacksons - '' Goin' Places'', 1977 *Lou Rawls - '' Unmistakably Lou''. 1977 *Lou Rawls - '' Let Me Be Good to You'', 1979 *

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American Soul music, soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pendergrass lived most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initial ...

- '' TP'', 1980 *Lou Rawls - '' Sit Down and Talk to Me'', 1980 *

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

- '' The Spirit's in It'', 1981 * Grover Washington Jr. - '' The Best Is Yet to Come'', 1982 *Patti LaBelle - '' I'm in Love Again'', 1983 *Patti LaBelle - '' Patti'', 1983 *

Phyllis Hyman Phyllis Linda Hyman (July 6, 1949 – June 30, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Hyman's music career spanned the late 1970s through the early 1990s, and she was best known for her expansive contralto range. Some of her most ...

- '' Living All Alone'', 1986 * MFSB - Philadelphia Freedom, 1975 * MFSB - Mysteries Of The World, 1980 * The Jones Girls - The Jones Girls, 1979 * Dee Dee Sharp Gamble - What Color Is Love, 1977

References

External links

* * * *
Dexter Wansel on Philly Soul Classics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wansel, Dexter 1950 births Living people African-American jazz musicians American keyboardists Jazz musicians from Philadelphia Philadelphia International Records artists 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians