Beginning in the late 1960s, he saw a successful solo career and guested on several recordings by other acts, including Miles Davis, George Benson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Michael Franks, B.

In high school in the 1950s, Sample teamed up with friends saxophonist Wilton Felder and drummer "Stix" Hooper to form a group called the Swingsters.

Another distinctive quality was the funky, rhythmically appealing acoustic piano playing of Sample, who helped steer the group's sound into a fusion between jazz and soul[4] in the late 1960s.

In 1975, Sample went into the studio with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne to produce a then state-of-the-art recording direct to disc titled The Three.

Felder, Hooper, and Sample recorded their first album, called Rural Renewal, as the reunited Crusaders group in 2003 and played a concert in Japan in 2004.

Some of the pianist's recent recordings are The Song Lives On (1999), featuring duets with singer Lalah Hathaway, and The Pecan Tree (2002), a tribute to his hometown of Houston, where he relocated in 1994.

His 2004 album on Verve, Soul Shadows, paid tribute to Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton, and pre-jazz bandleader James Reese Europe.

Sample appeared on stage at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 28 May 2000, playing keyboard solo on George Benson's "Deeper Than You Think".

The popular "In All My Wildest Dreams", also from the 1978 album Rainbow Seeker, was sampled on Tupac's "Dear Mama", De La Soul's "WRMS's Dedication to the Bitty", Toni Braxton's "What's Good" and Arrested Development's "Africa's Inside Me".

[2][8][9][10] With CreoleJoe Band With Anita Baker With George Benson With Joan Baez With Cher With Eric Clapton With Natalie Cole With Randy Crawford With Michael Franks With Albert King With B.B.