Take 6

With roots in gospel, doo wop, and sophisticated jazz-influenced singing groups of mid-century America, the a cappella group Take 6 are a throwback to an earlier era of American music, and they were a precursor for a number of Black male pop groups of the '90s, most notably . The group's membership includes Alvin Chea, Khristian Dentley (who replaced Cedric Dent in 2011), , Claude V. McKnight III (brother of ), Joey Kibble (who replaced Mervyn Warren in 1991), and David Thomas. and McKnight caught the a cappella bug at Alabama's Oakwood College in the early '80s, forming a vocal group that solidified into Take 6 when singer/arranger Warren joined in 1985. They signed to the label, for which they made a pair of smooth yet vocally adventuresome albums that defied pigeonholing other than the all-purpose a cappella classification. Take 6 (1988) won jazz and gospel Grammy awards, took three…