Dexter Wansel & Friends

Event Information

Coming to Eventim Apollo in April 2026. The Sound of Philadelphia comes to London with songwriter, musician, arranger, orchestrator, and Grammy Award–winning producer Dexter Wansel. Celebrating the full MFSB Experience alongside original Philadelphia International Records soul legends Jean Carn (“Don’t Let It Go To Your Head”), Shirley Jones (of The Jones Girls) ”Nights Over Egypt”,and—making her first appearance—Terri Wells (original vocalist on “The Sweetest Pain”), plus full band and special guests. A towering figure in the Philly soul movement, Dexter toured the USA in the 1970s and ’80s as Music Director and Conductor for MFSB, performing everywhere from major concert halls to the White House for President Jimmy Carter in 1979. His 1975 instrumental “Theme from The Planets” opened with a drum break that became one of the most sampled beats in hip-hop history—heard in tracks by Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick Ross, J. Cole, Ice-T, and many more. A pioneer of synthesizer–orchestral fusion (dubbed cosmic funk), Wansel created a distinct “space-soul” sound. The title track of his landmark LP Life on Mars (1976) is considered a signature jazz funk classic. He also penned songs for The Jacksons (featuring Michael Jackson) and wrote hits for Teddy Pendergrass, The O’Jays, Lou Rawls, Jean Carn, The Jones Girls, Patti LaBelle, and The Stylistics. In the 1980s, Wansel redefined the Philly sound itself, directing and playing keyboards with Instant Funk and MFSB, crafting enduring classics with lyricist Cynthia Biggs and recording four albums for the Philadelphia International label. For over five decades, he has helped shape the worlds of soul, disco, dance, jazz, and hip-hop becoming Philly soul music royalty in the process. Even space has felt his influence: his composition “Rings of Saturn” was used by NASA in the promotional video for the Voyager mission in 1977, enhancing the visual storytelling of humanity’s journey to the stars. Important Information from the event organizer Due to Dexter Wansel’s recent illness, as a precaution, McKinley Jackson has been bought in as our conductor for the evening in case Dexter is unable to be on stage for over 2 hours, the length of the concert. McKinley is a towering figure in his own right and he was recommended to us by Jean Carne and Shirley Jones as he has written, arranged, and produced for both Jean and The Jones Girls. He is more widely known for his work with Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Lamont Dozier, Norman Connors, and the Starship Orchestra. For example, he arranged “You’re A Star” for Aquarian Dream and he is credited across the whole “Lamont” album by Lamont Dozier. As you can see his CV is immense. We are now delighted to be able to announce some of the guest musicians in our orchestra. The amazing Amanda Whiting will feature on harp, Orphy Robinson will be our vibes man, and the legend Snowboy is providing percussion. The show now features Our 33 piece orchestra conducted by McKinley Jackson Dexter Wansel Dexter Wansel’s band led by Ernie Mckone On vocals we have: Jean Carn Shirley Jones Terri Wells Cornell CC Carter Angelo Starr Guest musicians: Amanda Whiting - Harp Orphy Robinson - Vibes Snowboy Mark Cotgrove - Percussion It is hoped that Dexter Wansel will still be able to join us for this celebration of his extraordinary musical legacy. We wish him a full and speedy return to full strength.

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