Vocal Geniuses: Take 6

Ten Grammy winners across musical genres return to the festival at the audience's request. Take 6 will appeal with velvety voices, absolute rhythm and inspiring lyrics.

Vocal geniuses tuned to the last note in the band Take 6 have been bringing musical joy since 1980. The American sextet, which has won ten Grammy Awards, an equal number of Dove Awards and has had many other successes, is the most awarded band of its kind in the world. Jazz harmonies and inspirational lyrics. Signs that make the work of Take 6 easily recognizable and unique. In their own words, the members are also united by their faith, friendship, respect and love of music. The musicians, who treat each other like family, have a deep respect for each other. And this can be felt on stage as well, the musical six transmit their warmth towards the audience. The strength of the four tenors, baritone and bass - besides emotion, humility and playfulness - is also in crossing musical genres and vocal excellence. The sextet has performed with such legends as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and Quincy Jones. The charismatic men push the boundaries of creativity and musical genius with every live performance. They will perform under the baton of Vlad Valovic with the Gustav Brom Radio Big Band, which celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2025.

Artists

Take 6
Claude McKnight – tenor
Mark Kibble – tenor
Joel Kibble – tenor
Dave Thomas – tenor
Khristian Dentley – baritone
Alvin Chea – bass
Gustav Brom Radio Big Band
Vlado Valovič – conductor

Program

Catch Me In The Spring (arr. Gordon Goodwin, Khristian Dentley)
Everyday I Have The Blues (arr. Thilo Wolf)
It's Time To Fly (arr. Gordon Goodwin, Khristian Dentley)
My Happy (r) (arr. Gordon Goodwin, Khristian Dentley)
Roof Garden (arr. Thilo Wolf)
Sing A Song (arr. Thilo Wolf)
Take A Train (arr. Thilo Wolf)
Whats Going On (arr. Thilo Wolf)
Windmills Of Your Mind (arr. Thilo Wolf)

Take 6

Winners of 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, 2 NAACP Image Awards, a Soul Train Award and more, vocal geniuses Take 6 are reaching audiences around the world. The band, which has released nearly two dozen albums, goes beyond musical genres, from straight-ahead jazz to pop to adult R&B, doo wop to blues. Every live performance together by Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley is a unique experience. The musicians have been praised by such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Ben E. King, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Whitney Houston, and have performed at concerts to smooth troubled socio-economic relations. The forerunner of the American gospel sextet group formed on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama in 1980. It has performed under its current name, Take 6, since 1987. The eponymous debut CD, combining jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics as well as other works, received great reviews from jazz and pop critics crowned with two Grammy Awards. It also made the Top Ten Billboard Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian Charts. Since then, Take 6 has never slowed down.

The Gustav Brom Radio Big Band

The Gustav Brom Radio Big Band is a Czech jazz, swing and brass orchestra formed in 1940 around Gustav Brom. It consists of about 20 musicians and is led by conductor Vlado Valovič. During its existence, the band has recorded around 600 records. The big band has performed at festivals in Manchester, Nuremberg, Warsaw and Antibes, has been one of the six best big bands in the world, has hosted many musical stars and has topped the charts of the most respected jazz magazine Down Beat. The orchestra has been and still is home to leading Czech jazz musicians such as Jaromír Hnilička, Josef Audes, Mojmír Bártek, Günter Kočí, Svatopluk Košvanec, Juraj Bartoš, Miroslav Hloucal, Ondřej Štveráček, Richard Šanda, Přemek Tomšíček, Tomáš Baroš, Marek Urbánek and others. Brom’s Big Band has collaborated with many stars of the world jazz scene and also with stars of Czech and Slovak pop music, including rock bands. Since 2013, the orchestra has been the resident ensemble of Czech Radio.

Vlado Valovič

Vlado Valovič has conducted the Gustav Brom Orchestra for more than a quarter of a century. Originally from Slovakia, he applied for a job as a music director at the Brno radio station after school. He won and immediately got the opportunity to record with the Gustav Brom Orchestra. It was here that the idea of collaborating with members of the Gustav Brom Orchestra and the best Slovak jazz musicians was born, and so he formed his own band VV System with a jazz orientation. After returning to Slovakia, he became the conductor of the Czechoslovak Radio Big Band in Bratislava. As a conductor he worked with big bands in Berlin, Zagreb, Katowice, Ljubljana, etc. In 1994 Gustav Brom came to him with an offer for the conducting post. He took it on the condition that the band must want him. According to Valovic, who is originally a trumpeter, two instruments are essential for an ensemble like a big band – the first trumpeter and the drummer. As he says, “When they put it on, it works.”