Roots of Joe Sample

Nils Landgren is a Swedish R&B, funk, and jazz trombone player and singer. He is known as The Man with the Red Horn because he plays a red trombone.

Howard Hewett Jr. is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He signed with Elektra Records. In 1986, he released his debut solo album I Commit to Love. Hewett and his group Shalamar contributed material to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. The soundtrack won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media in 1986.

Mary Vesta Williams was an American singer-songwriter, who performed across genres such as soul, funk, R&B, Quiet storm, jazz soul and Urban Contemporary. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, she was simply known as Vesta beginning in the 1990s. She was known for her four–octave vocal range. She once sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the Los Angeles Lakers game opener using all four of those octaves.