Take 6

Gospel's most acclaimed a cappella sextet, the 10-time GRAMMY-winning Take 6, returns to SFJAZZ for a four-night residency celebrating over 45 years of crystalline harmonies and inspiring messages. Their latest album Iconic reached #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart, showcasing their signature blend of jazz sophistication with gospel soul.

Founded by tenor Claude McKnight, the group features founding members McKnight and Mark Kibble alongside Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea, and Khristian Dentley. These six virtuosic voices have collaborated with legends from Ray Charles and Whitney Houston to Stevie Wonder and Jacob Collier, and performed for multiple presidents while maintaining their distinctive approach to gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop.

Expected to hear their arrangements of jazz standards like "The Windmills of Your Mind" and "God Bless the Child," alongside gospel classics like "Wade in the Water" and contemporary covers including Eric Clapton's "Change the World" and Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed." Recent concert reviews describe their performances as interactive celebrations where the audience becomes part of the experience through call-and-response, rhythmic clapping, and communal singing.

The group's stage presence balances masterful technical precision with warmth and humor. Their vocal arrangements create intricate soundscapes using beatboxing, vocal percussion, and what one reviewer called "vocal gymnastics" that transform familiar songs into showcase pieces for their trademark harmonies. PopMatters praised their "luminous extended harmonies that light up a song with a combination of jazz stratosphere and gospel earth."

Known for rotating lead vocals among the members, each performance highlights their individual strengths while maintaining the seamless chemistry developed over decades together. Quincy Jones has called them the "baddest vocal cats on the planet," and their live shows demonstrate why they remain the pre-eminent a cappella group in the world, channeling the power of faith through the power of song.