Rating:
Genre:
Vocal Music
Release Date: 09/30/2008
There are two ways to interpret the title of the famed multiple Grammy- and Dove Award-winning vocal group's debut on
Heads Up Records. First and most obviously, it's a reference to the way they have been setting high bars in the jazz and gospel worlds for 20 years, scoring as many Grammys as Doves (ten) with their beautiful and snazzy vocal textures. Then of course there's the wonderful choice of classic jazz material, ranging from their whistle and fingersnappin' approach to
"Sweet Georgia Brown" to
Nat King Cole's exuberant suggestion to
"Straighen Up and Fly Right" and
Ella Fitzgerald's
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket," featuring her own charming vocals from a session done in 1938! In taking a traditional jazz approach to some of the Great American Songbook's foundational treasures, the sextet ensemble has had so many guest artists they could temporarily be dubbed Take 7, 8, or 9. Besides bringing back
Ella, they've got
George Benson's snappy lead vocals and crisp guitar lines on the
Cole song; the vocal zigzags of
Al Jarreau and lyricist
Jon Hendricks on
Hendricks' classic
"Seven Steps to Heaven" (which also features the cool flugelhorn of
Till Brönner); and a wistful
Aaron Neville on the geographically appropriate
"Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" Group member
Claude McKnight's famous vocalist brother
Brian McKnight gets in on the grooving gospel of
"What's Going On?" Beyond the all-stars,
Take 6 also discovers some new talent with
Shelea Frazier, who wrings every ounce of emotion out of a touching
"Someone to Watch Over Me" with the help of
Roy Hargrove.
"Shall We Gather at the River" and the
Quincy Jones/
Jeremy Lubbock wordless seduction
"Grace," remind us of
Take 6's gospel roots, and a witty twist on the
Sesame Street standard
"Bein' Green" makes it suddenly cool and environmentally proper to be that color. The track features colorful new lyrics by the family of the song's composer, the late
Joe Raposo. True to the album's title,
Take 6 sets a new standard of creativity on their latest disc.
~Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
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