MNM sat down with Claude V. McKnight III from the jazz, gospel acapella sextet Take 6.
He hails from Brooklyn, NY and his parents were Claude Jr. and Elaine. He was the first of four boys (the others being Fred, Mike, and Brian). He lived and grew up primarily in Buffalo, NY. He got his earliest musical influences in Buffalo, mostly from his grandfather (Fred Willis Sr.) who was the choir director at his church. His earliest musical memories are from going to rehearsal with his mom every Friday night. He was able to learn parts and harmonize and see how his grandfather was able to lead a group of people.
He decided in the fourth grade that he would learn to play the trombone, but found it very combersome for a fourth grader! But playing the trombone enabled him to start getting his ear trained for what he would do later.
He played trombone throughout high school, and after his sophomore year his family moved to Orlando, Florida, where he continued to play and sing in the chorus. At that time one of his goals was to play in the Tonight Show band with Doc Severinson! He also played basketball in school, and upon graduation had to make the choice of going to school to play ball or to pursue music. Interestingly enough, he chose to go to Oakwood College in Huntsville, AL (where his parents also went), which was not a school known for either its instrumental program or its athletics.
One of the first things he did during his freshman year was to put together a freshman quartet, singing mostly barbershop-style harmonies. The legendary story goes that Mark Kibble came into a bathroom where they were rehearsing and added a fifth part to what they were doing, and subsequently joined the group. From there, Mervyn Warren joined the group, making it a sextet. They knew they had something special from the very beginning. Over the years, people came and went from the group, but from 1985 the group has had primarily the same lineup, apart from Joey Kibble replacing Mervyn Warren in 1991.
In addition to starting Take 6 and serving as a first tenor, he has also been involved in producing, writing, and doing voice-over work.
Music career
The group was signed to Warner Brothers in 1987, and quickly changed its name to Take 6 after a name search revealed Alliance was in use. Their eponymous debut album, released in 1988, won them two Grammy Awards and resulted in top ten appearances on both the Billboard Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian Charts. Their swinging, harmony-rich sound attracted much attention; the group went on to record or appear with a number of luminaries, including Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, and Stevie Wonder, to name a few. They recorded for the soundtracks of Dick Tracy, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood, and the theme song to the TV series Martin. They earned performances on Saturday Night Live, the 72nd Academy Awards, and the Grammys, and have had the honor of performing for four U.S. sitting Presidents, including the Democratic National Convention.
The group regularly featured on the 1990 Victor Lewis-Smith show on the BBC's Radio 1.
In 1991, after the release of their second album, So Much 2 Say, Mervyn Warren left the group to pursue a career as a producer. Joey Kibble, Mark's younger brother, was invited to round out the vocal lineup. The group added instrumentation to their purely a cappella sound beginning with the record, He Is Christmas. Join The Band and Brothers continued their Grammy streak. Take 6's 1998 release, So Cool, saw the group return to its a cappella origins.
In 2006 the group launched Take 6 Records; Feels Good the first album on their new label, was released the same year.
In 2007, they recorded a duet with Eros Ramazzotti in his CD e⊃2; ("Eros al quadrato") singing backing vocals to the song "Un attimo di pace".
In 2008, Take 6 released The Standard, which was a first time voyage for the group into a more traditional Jazz repertoire. The Standard, a critically hailed success, garnered three more Grammy nominations providing them the distinct honor of being the most Grammy nominated vocal group in history.
The group's home-base is Nashville, Tennessee, with two members residing in Los Angeles. All original members grew up Seventh-day Adventist.
In 2016, Take 6 released Believe with record label, Sono Recording Group. The album, produced by Claude Villani and Ross Vannelli, charted in six categories on Billboard within its first two weeks of being released.
In 2018, Take 6 released Iconic again with SoNo Recording Group. Produced and arranged by Take 6, the album became the group's first release to chart at No. 1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart. The first single, the Eric Clapton classic "Change the World", premiered on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Song chart in the top 30. The second single, the Christopher Cross classic "Sailing", was remixed by producer Tim Kelley, Director of A&R for the SRG/ILS Group.