Take 6, Jazztopad Festival, Five Spot, CBJC Gala

“I was 17 years old when this group started, wow that was 46 years ago and it’s still fun,” said Claude V. McKnight III, founder and member of Take 6.

- RONALD E. SCOTT

“I was 17 years old when this group started, wow that was 46 years ago and it’s still fun,” said Claude V. McKnight III, founder and member of Take 6. For four decades, the iconic Take 6 has toured the world multiple times and on June 19-21, they return to the Blue Note (131 West 3rd Street) with their mesmerizing harmonies that have pleasantly kept America musically hostage for all these years.

The sextet includes Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea, and Khristian Dentley. The performances will celebrate the completion of “RHAPSODY,” a collection of jazz standards that showcases the group's signature harmonies.

“Rhapsody,” their upcoming album expected early 2027, gives them space to dive deep into the jazz pool with such classics as “Rhapsody in Blue,” “Blue Skies,” “A Night in Tunisia,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” — all well-traveled jazz compositions that found their way into America’s cultural soundtrack. “This project was the idea of our manager, who felt this was a collection of songs that needed to be revitalized by Take 6,” said McKnight. The sextet’s vocal arrangements will take on new directions with such special guests as Dirty Loops, Snarky Puppy, trumpeter Chris Botti, and drummer JR Robinson.

After 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, Soul Train Award, 16 albums, and three Gold albums, the iconic acapella group Take 6 is scurrying about as if they were still college students at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. “Our longevity is based on the fact that we still like each other, we have love, we're spiritually based and we take everything through prayer,” said McKnight. “We've been doing the same music with different genres. We are a gospel group singing chords that can be jazz but church and R&B people all like the sound. In these times we need to do what we can do— spreading love is what people need to lift them up!” For reservations visit bluenotejazz.com