Editing Take 6 (section)

==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 Church|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.singers.com/take6.html |title=Take 6 Contemporary Christian A Cappella Group |publisher=Singers.com |access-date=May 23, 2014}}</ref> Kibble invited [[Mervyn Warren]] to join the group, which performed under the name Alliance.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> 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.<ref name="LarkinSM"/>

===Career===
The band signed a contract with [[Warner Alliance]]<ref name="Ginell">{{cite web |last1=Ginell |first1=Richard S. |title=Take 6 |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/take-6-mn0000155563/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref> 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<ref name="LarkinSM"/> 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)<ref name="LarkinSM"/> appeared on the gospel, jazz, and R&B charts of ''Billboard'' magazine. The band then signed with [[Reprise Records|Reprise]].<ref name="Ginell" /> 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''.<ref name="LarkinSM">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-733-9|page=259}}</ref>

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 (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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sonorecordinggroup.com/take-6-believe-scores-big-on-the-billboard-charts-during-debut-week/|title=Take 6 Believe scores big on the Billboard charts during debut week|website=sonorecordinggroup.com|date=April 5, 2016|access-date=April 5, 2016}}</ref> ''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|date=May 2018}} 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 (Christopher Cross song)|Sailing]]", is a cover of the [[Christopher Cross]] classic.