Take 6

Take 6 started out as an entirely a cappella outfit, only four folks rehearsing in a bathroom at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala. Since then, the quartet-gone-sextet have recorded or performed with luminaries like Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, Don Henley, James Taylor, k.d. lang, Patti Austin, Randy Travis, Queen Latifah and Branford Marsalis. They've also shown up on the soundtracks for Do The Right Thing, Boyz In The Hood, Dick Tracy and Glengary Glen Ross. In later albums, Take 6 branched out beyond a cappella into quietly accompanied, inspirational jazz R&B, with each of the six band members playing an instrument. But their greatest individual "instruments," the mainstay of their vast appeal, remains their astute and lustrous vocals, which weave immaculate street corner doo-wop harmonies over gorgeous gospel jazz.