Take 6

Take 6 is an American Seventh-day Adventist a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two NAACP Image Award nominations. They won Grammy Awards in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1998, and 2003 and have collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Don Henley, Ray Charles, Queen Latifah, Joe Sample, Quincy Jones, Marcus Miller, Brian McKnight and Gordon Goodwin.

Group biography

Oakwood College years

In 1980, Claude McKnight (older brother of R&B musician Brian McKnight). formed an a cappella quartet, The Gentlemen's Estates Quartet, at Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), a Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama, where he was a freshman. He auditioned fellow students for the hobby group. The Gentlemen were rehearsing in a campus bathroom (later said to be in Moran Hall), getting ready for a performance, when Mark Kibble heard them singing. He joined the harmonizing, adding a fifth part, and ended up singing with them onstage that very night. Mark later invited Mervyn Warren to join the group. The group performed under the moniker "Alliance".

The group performed in local churches and on campus over the next years, with members changing due to college's inevitable comings and goings. In 1985, the lower half of the group (bass, baritone, and second tenor) left upon graduating

. At that time, Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, and David Thomas joined.

Recording group

The group was signed to Warner Brothers in 1987, and quickly changed its name to "Take 6" after a name search revealed that "Alliance" was already being used. Their eponymous debut album, released in 1988, won them two Grammy Awards and resulted in top ten appearances on both the Billboard Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian Charts. Take 6's swinging, harmony-rich gospel sound attracted a flurry of attention, and the group went on to record or appear with a number of luminaries, including Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder as well as sing the theme song in the last 2 seasons of the American sitcom, Growing Pains.

In 1991, after the release of their second album, So Much 2 Say, Mervyn Warren left the group to pursue a career as a producer. Joey Kibble, Mark's younger brother, was invited to round out the vocal lineup. The group added instrumentation to their purely a cappella sound beginning with the record He Is Christmas; Join The Band and Brothers continued their streak of success, and Take 6 had seven Grammys and eight Dove awards, and topping the Downbeat Magazine's Reader's and Critic's poll for seven years' consecutively.
Take 6's 1998 release, So Cool, brought the group back to its a cappella origins.

In 2006 the group launched Take 6 Records and the 2006 release Feels Good was released on that label.

In 2008, Take 6 released The Standard, which was a first time voyage for the group into a more traditional Jazz repetoire. The Standard, was critically hailed as a success, it got the group its 19th Grammy nomination.

The group lists Nashville, Tennessee as its home-base, although two members have resided in Los Angeles for a number of years. All members grew up Seventh-day Adventist.

Members

Current members

Alvin Chea (1985-Present) - bass
Cedric Dent (1985-Present) - baritone
Joey Kibble (1991-Present) - second tenor

Kibble married singer Karima Kibble (Trotter) of the gospel group Virtue in August 1997.

Mark Kibble (1985-Present) - first tenor.
Claude V. McKnight III (1985-Present) - first tenor.

McKnight's brother is R&B musician Brian McKnight.

David Thomas (1985-Present) - second tenor

Former members

Mervyn Warren (1985-1991)

Discography

Album releases

Singles

Expand list

"Spread Love" (Reprise, 1988)
"David & Goliath" (Reprise, 1988)
"Milky-White Way" (Reprise, 1988)
"I L-O-V-E U" (Reprise, 1990)
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Reprise, 1990)
"Ridin' The Rails" (K.D. Lang & Take 6) (Sire, 1990)
"A Quiet Place" b/w "If We Ever"
"Where Do The Children Play" (1991)
"I Believe" (1991)
"Biggest Part Of Me" (1994)
"I Will Always Love You"
"All I Need (Is A Chance)" (1994)
"You Can Never Ask Too Much" (1995)
"You Don't Have To Be Afraid" (1997)
"One And The Same (featuring CeCe Winans)" (Reprise, 1999)
"Takin' It To The Streets" (2002)
"Come On" (Take 6, 2006)
"More Than Ever" (Take 6, 2006)

DVD releases

Billboard chart history

Albums

NZ CHARTS

Biggest Part Of Me 1994 8wks Peaked 23

Signed Music Artists