Khristian dentley biography of martin luther king

Khristian Dentley, a member of the Grammy Award- winning vocal group Take 6, conducted a master class for performing arts students at Dreher High School on Wednesday, November 4 at 8:30 a.m. at the school.

Dentley, who was born and raised in Columbia, went to school in Richland One until the beginning of his junior year in high school, when his family moved to Atlanta. He was the featured performer at the district’s January 2015 Hall of Fame Induction Gala and wowed the audience with his musical talents.

Dentley’s songwriting and record production skills earned him two Dove Award Nominations for his work on praise and worship recording artist Martha Munizzi’s “Make It Loud” album in 2011, which he produced.

In addition to touring the world with Take 6, which averages 125 shows a year, in the spring of 2013, Dentley released his own solo album entitled “KHRISTIAN 3.0” from his label, Dentleyboy Records.

In April of 2014, Dentley was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame as a member of Take 6.

He released his follow up solo record, “Fragments: Episode 1,” in August of this year, and he is featured on the Christmas collaboration album between India Arie and Joe Sample, “Christmas with Friends,” which hit stores on October 16.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The singing ensemble Take 6 and the Aeolians of Oakwood University will highlight the 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Realizing the Dream concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, in the Concert Hall at The University of Alabama’s Moody Music Building.

Tickets for the event are $15 and may be reserved by phoning 205/348-7111.

The concert is part of a weekend of events organized by West Alabama’s Martin Luther King Realizing the Dream Committee, including a banquet featuring Cynthia Tucker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist formerly with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Tucker is a native of Monroeville and a graduate of Auburn University. She is the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer-in-Residence in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

Among the nation’s most recognized vocal ensembles, Take 6, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, has received 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards and a Soul Train Award. Take 6 features Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley.

The group was founded at Oakwood University in Huntsville in 1980 and took its current name in 1988. Take 6’s newest recording, “One,” in 2012, is notable for the group’s return to its spiritual heritage.

The Aeolians of Oakwood University is a vocal ensemble founded in 1946 by Dr. Eva B. Dykes. The group has traveled around the world, including a 2012 performance at the Moscow International Performing Arts Center under the patronage of Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia. The group’s director is Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand.

In addition to the concert, the Realizing the Dream Committee will recognize three West Alabamians at a banquet at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, at the Hotel Capstone. Tickets are $25 each and are available by phoning 205/348-7111. Tucker will be the speaker.

Lubna Alansari, a UA undergraduate from Saudi Arabia, will rec

A cappella gospel sextet Take 6 took some audience members by surprise in its 2001 concert at the Moody Concert Hall. Despite the fact that only the six men appeared on stage, there seemed to be a lot more sound going on, like horn stabs, bass lines and percussion, guitar and trumpet solos.

It's a little like when Bobby McFerrin creates what sounds like a full band out of his voice and body, best known from his mega-hit "Don't Worry Be Happy." Only there are six guys doing it in Take 6, so it becomes more like an orchestra.

" ‘Wait a minute? Were there instruments out there?' " said founding member and first tenor Cedric McKnight, laughing. "We try to make it so you don't miss what you would normally hear in a concert."

This year, as Take 6 celebrates the 25th anniversary of its first recording, the group comes back to Tuscaloosa on Saturday for the 24th Martin Luther King Jr. Realizing the Dream concert at Moody. They'll be joined by the Aeolians of Oakwood University in Huntsville, where the group has its roots, so the sound will be even fuller.

When McKnight, the older brother of R&B singer Brian McKnight, was starting an a capella quartet back in college, they were inspired by vocal groups such as the Hi-Lo's, the Mills Brothers, Manhattan Transfer and the Nylons.

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"There were so many groups that do harmonies," he said, "even The Temptations and groups like that from an entertainment perspective."

At a rehearsal, fellow student Mark Kibble heard them and joined in, adding a fifth part, joining them in performance that very night. They added a sixth voice and became Alliance, changing the name to Take 6 after signing with Warner Brothers.

Take 6 cut its self-titled debut disc in 1988, which won them two Grammys and landed airplay on jazz and contemporary Christian stations.

"In our arrangement, we have more of a big-band

Khristian Dentley's faith plays into his music in a "very, very huge way."

"In my opinion, we are simply representatives of Christ wherever we go," said Dentley, who makes up one sixth of the Grammy and Dove Award-winning gospel a cappella group Take 6.

Dentley and Take 6 will take that faith-filled music to the Fairchild Theatre in the MSU Auditorium on Sunday for two free shows in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The first show is already sold out, and tickets for the second are going quickly.

The event, called "Jazz: Spirituals, Prayer and Protest Concert," will honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

"It's an important holiday for us as a group and as a nation," Dentley said. "The other day, I went to see 'Selma,' the movie that has to do with Dr. King's life and legacy. It made me prouder to be a part of this group."

Using music to celebrate King, he says, gives hope and joy to the audience. In fact, every time he walks on the stage, Dentley feels a sense of purpose.

"My job is to put smiles on people's faces," Dentley said. "We don't know what the personal climate of our fans is. We don't know if they're coming from troubled homes or broken marriages or can't take care of their obligations. When we walk on stage, we're smiling and signing and representing the God that we serve.

"It makes people smile and forget what troubled them before they got there or gives them hope to pursue. That, to me, is the best representation of our faith."

Dentley, who sings baritone in Take 6, vividly remembers his first time singing in public. Just talking about it makes his smile so wide his face starts to ache.

"I had to have been seven years old," Dentley said. "My mom and dad were pastoring a church, and they were both musical, too."

His mom and dad were having a difficult time finding someone to lead the song "I'll Make It." Dentley enthusiastically volunteered.

"Everyone thought I was joking, because I was just a kid," he r