Take 6The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Take 6 Records (2010)
Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.
The most wonderful time of the year is upon us, and with it come new musical projects to celebrate the season.
The first to be featured on TBGB this year is the new Christmas album by the multiple award-winning vocal group Take 6. It is the human swing orchestra’s third holiday project but their first since 1999, when they released We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year offers ten familiar carols and songs delivered in the sextet’s complex but captivating polyrhythmic harmonies. Classics such as “Jingle Bells,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and the doo-woppy “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” are ideally suited to the group’s zesty singing style. Their wordless version of Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” (called “The Sugarplum Dance” here) is fascinating; it is a made-for-stereo version of the type of vocal interplay that made the Mills Brothers famous eighty years ago.
The group’s playful melodrama on “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” is hilarious. Hearing them harmonize on the phrase “stink, stank, stunk” just about makes my Christmas.
It is fitting that one of the best songs on is Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time is Here.” Take 6’s signature sound has the same light, cool swing of Guaraldi’s soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. Shelea Frazier’s lovely lead vocals and piano work add bright textures to the group’s rich harmonies.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is a finger-popping journey over the river and through the woods to Christmases long, long ago.
Four of Five Stars
Picks: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”
Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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