Dexter Wansel

Born in Philadelphia in 1950, Dexter Wansel occupies a place in the city's soul and jazz-funk history as a keyboardist, arranger, composer and producer associated with the Philadelphia International Records ecosystem. Trained early on in the local scene, he worked in the 1970s at Sigma Sound Studios, played with MFSB and Instant Funk, and developed a writing style that blends R&B, jazz fusion, orchestral funk and cosmic textures. As a solo artist he released Life on Mars (1976), What the World Is Coming To (1977), Voyager (1978) and Time Is Slipping Away (1979) — records marked by supple grooves, expansive arrangements and a lasting taste for futuristic atmospheres and sophisticated disco. At the same time, Wansel became a central figure of the Philadelphia sound as a songwriter, arranger and producer for Lou Rawls, The Jacksons, Patti LaBelle, Grover Washington Jr. and The Jones Girls, for whom he notably wrote “Nights Over Egypt” in 1981. His work, frequently sampled in hip-hop, extended his influence far beyond the original soul-jazz scene. After Captured (1986), he returned with the album The Story of the Flight Crew to Mars in 2021.