By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
If you close your eyes and listen to Take 6 perform on stage, you would swear they have a band backing them up on their vocals — and you’d be wrong.
Since the late 1980s, the popular a capella ensemble has been singing its patented jazz-R&B-pop-gospel-infused music coupled with unbelievably astonishing instrumental sound effects.
In 1986, while at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, the four original members, who decided to sidestep instruments, were initially known as the Gentleman’s Estate Quartet. The name would later change to Take 6.
The recipient of 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award and an induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Quincy Jones calls Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley), the “baddest vocal cats on the planet.”
Called a musical phenomenon, Take 6 comprises six virtuosic voices united in harmony, against a setting of syncopated rhythms, inventive arrangements and funky grooves that make for an intoxicating musical brew that defies categorization.
Claude McKnight, the founder and falsetto of Take 6, calls the group “blessed.”
On March 23, during a performance in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, members of Take 6 will introduce a preview of their brand new recording, celebrating their 2024 partnerships in Music Cares with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and more — exclusively for their greater Los Angeles audience.
I recently spoke to Claude McKnight about Take 6 and the group’s new partnership in Music Cares with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
DD: You are going to introduce a preview of your new recording, celebrating your new 2024 partnerships in Music Cares with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. What is the name of the new recording?
CM: It’s called “Rhapsody.” It’s straight jazz. It’s the brainchild of our manager.
DD: Straight jazz? What are some of the songs?
CM: “Stardust,” “God Bless the Child,” “Giant Steps.” We have some heavy jazz songs. This is the only project where we didn’t pick the songs. People know us — we’re jazz and we’re gospel. We like to delve into a lot of different things. We have 10 selections.
DD: When does your latest project come out?
CM: I don’t know. It’s not finished.
DD: Talk about the 2024 partnerships in Music Cares with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. How has it been going since the kick-off in November?
CM: It’s going well. We went to St. Jude and met the people involved. It was awesome. We saw what goes on day to day. To hear the history and meet people who are committed changes things. We want to give of ourselves.
DD: What do you think about the work St. Jude is doing?
CM: Like everyone, we’ve seen St. Jude commercials. Everybody’s family has dealt with cancer. We can see what it has become. It’s an awesome responsibility. It’s bigger than life. They give life to kids.
DD: The group will incorporate St. Jude and its mission in their shows and events donating proceeds from ticket sales, and by encouraging fans to support the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital —finding cures. It’s about saving children. Is there a fixed amount you’d like to raise?
CM: No, what’s important is to set it up so people do what they are led to do. We don’t need a goal for it. This is a new partnership.
DD: How will you encourage fans to support the mission? Why should the fans or any of us care?
CM: It’s a no-brainer. Everyone has been touched by cancer. It’s not far-fetched. Everyone has a clue what it feels like and looks like.
DD: What is on the set list of the upcoming performance?
CM: We will make sure we have a cross-section. Some people have been with us since the beginning. We want to cover enough songs. For us, it makes for a great time, too. We want to enjoy ourselves.
DD: Take 6 has been around for a while. How would you describe the career you’ve had?
CM: We started in 1980 as The Gentleman’s Estate Quartet, where we lived on campus. We became Take 6 after we signed our first recording contract with Warner Bros. in 1987. It’s been a blessing. I’m 61 now. We started 44 years ago, meaning I’ve been doing this for two-thirds of my life.
DD: Did you ever think you’d still be doing this in 2024?
CM: I never thought we’d still be doing it. I never thought we’d still be relevant. When you start something you do it as a hobby, then, wow, I look up and this thing I started in school is still going.
DD: Back in the day there weren’t a lot of a cappella groups out there. Take 6 seemed to have changed the game in music. You demonstrated how you didn’t need a band backing you. You were your instruments. Now there are more a capella groups out there. Do you believe Take 6 changed the game?
CM: We just did for us what we knew how to do. We were signed to Warner Bros. Nashville. No one knew what to do with us. We came along at the right time. It was the same year Tracy Chapman came out. Both of us were nominated for Best New Artist. She won. That’s the year, (1989), that synthesizers were coming into the fray.
DD: How often does the group tour each year?
CM: We still do about 120 dates a year. You better love what it is you do so that in the days you don’t like it, you can pull through. We love what we do. That love pulls you through.
DD: What does it mean to you to be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame?
CM: It’s amazing. It means you have longevity. You’re doing something people appreciate.
Take 6 performs at 7:30 p.m. March 23 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. Information: 310-246-3800 or thewallis.org.
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
