Take 6 with the Mulgrew Miller Trio
7:00–8:30PM, Chase Main Stage
Winners of multiple Grammy Awards, Take 6 has firmly established itself as one of today’s premier jazz and pop vocal groups. The group burst onto the scene in 1987 with its self-titled debut album, which scored two Grammy Awards and landed in the top ten on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian charts. The follow-up album, So Much 2 Say (1990), was equally successful, climbing to the #2 spot on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart and earning a Grammy for “Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.” After adding instrumentation to what had been purely an a cappella sound, Take 6 continued to win Grammy Awards with He Is Christmas (1991), Join the Band (1994) and Brothers (1996).
The group's swinging, harmony-rich gospel sound has also led to collaborations with the likes of Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder. In 2008, Take 6 released The Standard, which includes guest appearances by R&B luminaries Aaron Neville and Brian McKnight, as well as veteran jazzmen George Benson, Al Jarreau and Jon Hendricks.
Take 6 consists of Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, Joey Kibble, Mark Kibble, Claude V. McKnight III and David Thomas.
Joining Take 6 is the fabulous Mulgrew Miller Trio with Ivan Taylor (bass), Rodney Green (drums) and the master pianist himself. The Boston Globe proclaimed Miller as “perhaps the leading pianist of his generation.” And with more than 400 recordings as a leader and sideman, he is undoubtedly one of the most recorded artists. His resume includes longtime associations with many of the legends of jazz, including Betty Carter, Woody Shaw, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Tony Williams.
Widely esteemed as a skilled, swinging accompanist and inventive soloist for many years, Miller also has emerged as a leader of vision and a significant composer. In recent years he has released a series of critically acclaimed recordings: Live at Yoshi’s, Volume 1 (2004), Live at Yoshi’s, Volume 2 (2005) and another two-volume set, Live at the Kennedy Center (2006 and 2007).
