Walt Disney Records:
Biography of TAKE 6
Grammy® Award-winning a capella sensation TAKE 6 performs a harmonic interpretation of "The Work Song" on Walt Disney Records The Music of Disney's Cinderella. This album is a contemporary collection of classic songs from the original Walt Disney feature animation film.
From its modest beginnings as an a capella gospel group from a small Huntsville, Alabama, college, to their current status as five-time Grammy® Award winners, TAKE 6 has redefined the standards for vocal music. Indeed, the vocal group craze that's currently sweeping the R&B world was touched off in part by the emergence of TAKE 6 in 1988. Hot contemporary R&B acts like Boyz II Men and Coming of Age cite TAKE 6 as a major influence.
The group's platinum-selling 1988 debut album, TAKE 6, as well as its 1990 RIAA certified gold successor, So Much 2 Say, are phenomenal testimonials to the popularity of a band so eclectic in nature. The group's 1991 Christmas album, He Is Christmas, was awarded a Grammy® for its jazzy interpretations of such holiday favorites as "The Little Drummer Boy" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and features a performance with the Yellowjackets.
The sextet has recorded and/or performed with an array of artists, including Quincy Jones, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Jarreau, Don Henley, James Taylor, Dianne Reeves, Patti Austin, Phoebe Snow, Kenny Rogers, Branford Marsalis, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Joe Sample, k.d. lang, and the Boston Pops. The group has appeared on the film soundtracks to Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, John Singleton's Boyz in the Hood, Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, and David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.
The vocal group recently completed its fourth reprise album, Join the Band, which marked the first time TAKE 6 has invited guest vocalists to record with them. Featured on the album are Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Queen Latifah. The album also features performances by keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Greg Phillinganes, saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum, horns by Jerry Hey, and guitarists Dann Huff and Paul Jackson Jr., among others.
Members of TAKE 6 are Alvin Chea (Bass), Cedric Dent (Baritone), Joey Kibble (Second Tenor), Mark Kibble (First Tenor), Claude V. McKnight III (First Tenor), and David Thomas (Second Tenor). Each member is an accomplished musician and contributes songs and arrangements for the group. They all play instruments, and Dent is completing his Ph. D. in Music Theory.