Seven-Time Grammy-Winner “Take 6” To Highlight 2001 Realizing The Dream Events At UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ­ The seven-time Grammy Award-winning gospel group “Take 6” will highlight the 12th annual Martin Luther King “Realizing the Dream” event at The University of Alabama’s Moody Music Concert Hall, on Saturday, Jan. 13.

The group will perform in two separate concerts at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Individual performance tickets go on sale on Monday, Jan. 8 and are $15 for general admission and $10 for students with valid IDs. Both the UA Moody Music Hall box office and the Stillman College business office will be selling tickets. For more information on tickets, call 205/348-7111.

Sponsored in conjunction with Stillman College and Shelton State Community College, the annual event serves as a lasting tribute to the life and memory of Martin Luther King Jr. by presenting some of America’s best-known performers from the stage, screen and recording studio. Past performers have included Ossie Davis, Sidney Poitier, Roberta Flack, Harry Belafonte and Cicely Tyson.

Take 6 evolved from a modest start in 1980 as an a cappella quartet at small Oakwood College in Huntsville. In 1987 the group was signed by Warner/Reprise Nashville, officially becoming Take 6 (now including members Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Mervyn Warren, Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent and David Thomas). Every Take 6 album has been certified either platinum or gold.

According to the group’s Web site, their a cappella singing has had an unparalleled influence on modern pop music. While pop music and Take 6 embrace constant change in expression and performance, the influence on the group’s music, who they sing about and who they sing for, remains the same, the site states. “Brothers,” the newest recording by Take 6, is a gospel, jazz, R&B-inflected statement of faith in the power of God. The one constant for Take 6, according to the site, is their spiritual foundations and their richly layered and uniquely fashioned harmonies.

The sextet has recorded and/or performed with an impressive array of talent, including Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, Don Henley, James Taylor, Kenny Rogers K.D. Lang, Patti Austin, Johnny Mathis, Randy Travis, Queen Latifah, Branford Marsalis and BeBe & CeCe Winans. They have appeared on film soundtracks to Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” John Singleton’s “Boyz In The Hood,” Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy” and David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” among others.

“What a fantastic treat to have a world renowned group like Take 6 performing during this special tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Dr. Bruce Murray, director of the School of Music at the University. “Making the visit even more special is the fact this Grammy-winning group, which has its very beginnings tied to the state of Alabama, has agreed to perform twice ­ offering fans the opportunity to choose which performance time they would like to attend. A matinee and an evening performance will truly make Take 6’s visit to the Capstone and West Alabama a day to remember and, again, makes this one of the most anticipated events of the year in our community.”

The “Realizing the Dream” concert has become part of more than just the annual concert, expanding to include the Martin Luther King Distinguished Lecture Series. Now in its second year of attracting well-known civil rights figures to the Tuscaloosa community to discuss the past and future of civil rights in America, the lecture series is also a joint effort between UA, Stillman and Shelton State.