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Written by Dan England
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Thursday, 17 April 2008 |
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It all seemed like a blur when Take 6 hit the scene in 1988 with the release of the group’s first album. Dave Thomas and the rest of them couldn’t believe it.
They were just an a cappella group that mixed gospel, jazz and pop and sang about God a lot. They were a local hit in Huntsville, Ala., but didn’t consider a professional career for several years. Then, all of a sudden, they were signed and on stage at the Grammys a few months later.
“I remember performing at the Grammys and people asked me if I was excited,” Thomas said in a phone interview. “I had to sit back, and I couldn’t think about what it felt like. I actually got more excited looking at the photos of us on stage than actually being there.”
Years later, the group is preparing its first jazz album and will appear as Thursday’s headliner for the University of Northern Colorado/Greeley Jazz Festival. Take 6 was a success mixing its a cappella sound (even the drums and bass were provided by their voices) with gospel and pop, with some jazz elements thrown in. Jazz was always there, as the group performed several years ago at the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival, and some of the guys have college backgrounds in jazz arranging. But this is the first time the group is fully embracing a direction in jazz. The album of jazz standards will be out sometime this summer.
“We thought we would just try it,” Thomas said, “and it’s turned out to be a great project.”
Initially, Christian labels turned the guys down. Those that showed up took one look at them and left before they even started singing. But half a song perked Warner Brothers’ interest, and after an audition, they were signed 48 hours later. The group’s first two albums were a smashing success and might have helped inspire the “New Jack Swing” craze of the early ’90s, fronted by Boyz II Men and other groups such as Bell Biv Devoe, Color Me Badd and Toni!Tone!Tony!. The sound of New Jack was different from Take 6, but the idea of guys harmonizing together came from them.
“Later, some of those guys would say to us that what they were was just trying to attempt what we did,” Thomas said. “But that’s how all artists come up, they emulate what others do.”
Take 6 wasn’t sure what it wanted to be for a while, even after the initial success. The band moved away from a cappella for a while, and the guys would try to switch up their style based on what gig they was playing. If it was a jazz festival, they were a jazz group, and if it was a pop festival, they were a pop band.
“We used to tailor what we did,” Thomas said. “But it’s hard to edit yourself.”
So now Take 6 is back doing a cappella, and they sing what they want, as they will at the UNC jazz festival.
“We are a cappella, and that’s what we do,” Thomas said. “That’s what we love to do. And what we love to do is just be Take 6 and leave it all on the stage.”
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