Take 6

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 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.^[2] Kibble invited Mervyn Warren to join the group, which performed under the name Alliance.^[3] 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.^[3]

The band signed a contract with Warner Alliance^[4] 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^[3] and three Dove Awards. They contributed to the film Do the Right Thing and sang on the album Back on the Block by Quincy Jones. They also appeared on Sesame Street and Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella. The band's second album, So Much 2 Say (1990)^[3] appeared on the gospel, jazz, and R&B charts of Billboard magazine. The band then signed with Reprise.^[4] 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.^[3]

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 for his album E². 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.^[5] Iconic (Sono, 2018), produced and arranged by the band, was its first album to chart at No. 1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart.^{[citation needed]} The first single was a cover version of "Change the World" by Eric Clapton and debuted on the Contemporary Jazz Song chart in the top 30. The second single, "Sailing", is a cover of the Christopher Cross classic.

• Claude V. McKnight III – first tenor 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 or fifth voice (2011–present)
• Alvin Chea  – vocal bass or sixth voice (1985–present)

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

• 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^[6])
• 1990: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (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^[6])
• 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 CeCe Winans)" (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 (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"

• Official website
• Take 6 at Encyclopedia.com
• Alvin Chea Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
• Claude McNight Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
• David Thomas Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
• Joey Kibble Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
• Mark Kibble Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
• Khristian Dentley Interview at NAMM Oral History Library] (2013)