Take 6 is an American a cappella

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...

. The group integrates

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

as well as

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awar ...

s, a

Soul Train Award The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

and nominations for the

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

. The band has worked with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Nnenna Freelon Nnenna Freelon (born July 28, 1954) is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger. Early life and education Freelon was born Chinyere Nnenna Pierce to Charles and Frances Pierce in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she was raised ...

Gordon Goodwin Gordon L. Goodwin (born 1954) is an American pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is the leader of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. He has won four Grammy Awards and three Daytime Emmy Awards, and has received over twenty ...

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as " Witchy Woman", "Des ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, k.d. lang,

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music. There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexico), which is the nickname his mother gave him as a child—"mi sol". Luis Miguel has sung in mu ...

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

Ben Tankard Ben Tankard (born January 10, 1964) is an American gospel/smooth jazz musician, producer, and arranger. Biography Tankard's father was a minister and his mother a missionary. In church, he played drums at an early age. He played tuba in school ...

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...

CeCe Winans Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans; before launching an acclaimed solo career. Winans has been ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

and

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier (; né Moriarty; born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His music incorporates a combination of jazz with elements from many other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reha ...

. All original members grew up in the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

Biography

Oakwood College years

In 1980, Claude McKnight, older brother of R&B musician

, formed an a cappella quartet, The Gentlemen's Estates Quartet, at Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

university in Huntsville, Alabama, where he was a freshman. He auditioned students for the group. While rehearsing in a campus bathroom to prepare for a performance, Mark Kibble heard them singing. He joined the harmonizing, adding a fifth part with them onstage that night. Kibble invited

Mervyn Warren Mervyn Edwin Warren (born February 29, 1964) is an American film composer, record producer, conductor, arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist. Warren is a five-time Grammy Award winner and a 10-time Grammy Award nominee. Warren ...

to join the group, which performed under the name Alliance. Alliance performed in local churches and on campus with a changing roster of members. In 1985, the lower half of the group (bass, baritone, and second tenor) left after graduating. Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, and David Thomas joined.

Career

The band signed a contract with

Warner Alliance Warner Alliance was a contemporary Christian record label and a division of Warner Music Group. It was founded in 1989 with headquarters located in San Francisco, California. Artists on the label included Steve Taylor, Kim Boyce, Michael Englis ...

in 1987 and changed its name to Take 6 after a search revealed the name "Alliance" was in use. Their self-titled debut album (1988) won Grammy Awards in the gospel and jazz categories and three Dove Awards. They contributed to the film ''

Do the Right Thing ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackso ...

'' and sang on the album ''

Back on the Block ''Back on the Block'' is a 1989 studio album produced by Quincy Jones. The album features legendary musicians and singers from across three generations, including Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul, Ice-T, Big Daddy Kane, Sarah Vaugh ...

'' by Quincy Jones. They also appeared on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'' and '' Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella''. The band's second album, ''So Much 2 Say'' (1990) appeared on the gospel, jazz, and R&B charts of ''Billboard'' magazine. The band then signed with

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

. In 1991, after the release of ''So Much 2 Say'', Mervyn Warren left the group to pursue a career as a record producer and was replaced by Joey Kibble, Mark Kibble's younger brother. The group added instrumentation to their a cappella sound on the album ''He Is Christmas''. In 2006, the group started the label Take 6 Records; ''Feels Good'', the first album on their new label, was released the same year. In 2007, they recorded with

Eros Ramazzotti Eros Walter Luciano Ramazzotti (; born 28 October 1963) is an Italian pop singer, musician and songwriter. He is popular in Italy and most European countries, and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in bot ...

for his album ''

E² "E²" (pronounced "E-Squared") is the seventy-third episode of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', the twenty-first episode of season three. It first aired on May 5, 2004, on the UPN network in the United ...

''. A year later Take 6 released ''The Standard'', which ventured into more traditional jazz territory. ''Believe'' (Sono, 2016), produced by Claude Villani and Ross Vannelli, charted in six categories on ''Billboard'' in its first two weeks of release. ''Iconic'' (Sono, 2018), produced and arranged by the band, was its first album to chart at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Contemporary Jazz Chart. The first single was a cover version of "

Change the World "Change the World" is a song written by Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy, and Wayne Kirkpatrick and recorded by country music artist Wynonna Judd. A cover version was recorded by English singer Eric Clapton for the soundtrack of the 1996 film ''Ph ...

" by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

and debuted on the Contemporary Jazz Song chart in the top 30. The second single, "

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

", is a cover of the

Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's T ...

classic.

Members

* Claude V. McKnight III – first

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

or first voice (1980–present) * Mark Kibble – second tenor or second voice (1980–present) * David Thomas – third tenor or fourth voice (former), third voice (today) (1985–present) * Joey Kibble – fourth tenor or third voice (former), fourth voice (today) (1991–present) * Khristian Dentley –

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the ...

or fifth voice (2011–present) * Alvin Chea – vocal bass or sixth voice (1985–present)

Former

– third tenor or third voice/first tenor or first voice (song/section dependent) (1980–1991) * Cedric Dent – baritone or fifth voice (1985–2011)

Discography

Albums

Live albums

Singles

* 1988: "Spread Love" (Reprise) * 1988: "David & Goliath" (Reprise) * 1988: "Milky-White Way" (Reprise) * 1988: "Gold Mine" (Take 6) * 1988: "A Quiet Place" * 1990: "I L-O-V-E U" (Reprise) (No. 19 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks) * 1990: "

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" is an English traditional Christmas carol. It is in the Roxburghe Collection (iii. 452), and is listed as no. 394 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy", and by other varian ...

" (Reprise) * 1990: "Ridin' the Rails" k.d. lang & Take 6) (Sire) * 1991: "Where Do the Children Play" * 1991: "I Believe" * 1994: " Biggest Part of Me" (No. 36 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks) * 1994: "All I Need (Is a Chance)" * 1995: "You Can Never Ask Too Much" * 1997: "You Don't Have to Be Afraid" * 1999: "One and the Same (featuring

)" (Reprise) * 2002: " Takin' It to the Streets" * 2006: "Come On" (Take 6) * 2006: "More Than Ever" (Take 6) * 2006: "Comes Love" with

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz orchestra that combines the big band swing of the 1930s and 1940s with contemporary music such as funk and jazz fusion. The band is led by Gordon Goodwin, who arra ...

('' XXL'') * 2006: "It's Alright With Me" with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band (''XXL'') * 2006: "It Was a Very Good Year" with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band ('' The Phat Pack'') * 2011: "Never Enough" with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band (''That's How We Roll'') * 2012: "(It Only Takes) One" * 2015: "When Angels Cry" * 2018: "Sailing"

Video releases

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

GMA Dove Award wins

References

External links

*
Take 6 at Encyclopedia.com

NAMM Oral History Interview with Alvin Chea
January 25, 2013
NAMM Oral History Interview with Claude McKnight
(2013)
NAMM Oral History Interview with David Thomas
(2013)
NAMM Oral History Interview with Joey Kibble
January 25, 2013
NAMM Oral History interview with Mark Kibble
January 25, 2013
NAMM Oral History Interview with Khristian Dentley
(2013) {{Authority control American gospel musical groups American jazz ensembles American Seventh-day Adventists African-American musical groups Grammy Award winners Musical groups established in 1980 Professional a cappella groups Reprise Records artists Smooth jazz ensembles Vocal jazz ensembles