1978 in jazz:

Dexter Gilman Wansel (born August 22, 1950) is an American keyboardist, raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He contributed to the development of the Philly Sound and worked with producers Gamble and Huff at Philadelphia International Records. Wansel led the musical group, Yellow Sunshine. He has worked with Phyllis Hyman, The Jacksons, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, Patti Labelle, Grover Washington Jr. and Lou Rawls amongst many others. He also wrote The Jones Girls 1981 soul music song "Nights over Egypt" and Patti Labelle's 1984 #1 R&B hit, "If Only You Knew", with Cynthia Biggs. His "Theme from the Planets" has been sampled and was featured on the breakbeat compilation album, Ultimate Breaks and Beats.

Whilst Wansel was relatively unknown outside the U.S., many have suggested^[who?] that his influence on pop music, as both a producer and performer in the mid 1970s, led to the development of new age soul and jazz funk. His most successful album was Life On Mars, released on the Philadelphia International record label in 1976. Wansel played keyboards, Derek Graves played bass guitar whilst a session singer, Terri Wells, was on vocals. The remaining sound was filled in by Dexter's rhythm section called The Planets featuring Darryl Brown, Calvin Harris, Bobby Malach, Al Harrison and the aforementioned Graves.

Bennie Maupin (born 29 August 1940) is a Detroit Michigan jazz multireedist. He performs on various saxophones, flute and bass clarinet.

He is probably best known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi sextet and Headhunters band, and for performing on Miles Davis's seminal fusion record, Bitches Brew. Maupin has collaborated with Horace Silver, Roy Haynes and many others. He has also performed on several Meat Beat Manifesto albums. He is noted for having a harmonically-advanced, "out" improvisation style, while having a different sense of melodic direction than other "out" jazz musicians such as Eric Dolphy. As a composer, he has an ability to create brief melodies and song forms that create vast landscapes for improvisation.

Maupin was also a member of Almanac, a group with Cecil McBee (bass), Mike Nock (piano) and Eddie Marshall (drums).

With John Beasley

With Marion Brown

With Mike Clark

With Miles Davis

With Jack DeJohnette

With Herbie Hancock

With Eddie Henderson

With Lee Morgan

William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. His mother first taught him piano and he started performing in his teens. Dropping out of school, he learned to operate lights for vaudeville and improvised to accompany silent films at a local theater in his town of Red Bank, New Jersey. By 16, he increasingly played jazz piano at parties, resorts and other venues. In 1924, he went to Harlem, where his performing career expanded; he toured with groups to the major jazz cities of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. In 1929 he joined Bennie Moten's band in Kansas City, and played with them for years, until Moten's death in 1935.

That year Basie formed his own jazz orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump," developed in 1935 in the early days of his band, and "April In Paris".

Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Laws (born October 3, 1950, Houston, Texas) is an American jazz, blues and funk saxophonist. He is the younger brother of jazz flautist Hubert Laws and the older brother of Debra Laws.

Laws is the fifth of eight children born to Hubert Laws, Sr. and Miola Luverta Donahue.

Laws attended Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, for two years.^{[citation needed]} In 1972, Laws joined the fledgling group Earth, Wind & Fire, playing saxophone and flute on their album Last Days and Time. He left the band soon afterwards, long before they achieved their commercial success.

In 1975, he began his solo career with the album Pressure Sensitive, which yielded his most famous instrumental song, "Always There." The song became an instant jazz-funk classic, covered by numerous artists.

In 1978 he released the album titled Flame under United Artists Records and from it a 12" single was released called "All for You," as well as additional tracks (from previous albums) entitled "Let's Keep it Together" and "Nuthin' 'bout Nuthin." The 12" single was his first issued in the UK as well as the US, and paved the way for this format to be used for promoting artists' work at the time without the need to obtain the full LP.