Take 6
In 1980, Warren became a member of the a cappella sextet Alliance, which in 1987 signed with Warner Bros. Records, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, changed its name to Take 6, and achieved worldwide fame in 1988. Warren produced or co-produced most of their first two albums, Take 6 and So Much 2 Say; arranged and co-wrote many of the included songs; and with the group won his first of four Grammy Awards.
Warren's years with Take 6 were characterized by a flurry of appearances, performances, recordings, and travel. Take 6 performed many concerts and embarked upon several concert tours, typically to sold-out audiences, both in the United States and abroad. In 1988, Take 6 toured approximately 12 U.S. cities, opening for jazz legend Andy Williams. In 1989, Take 6 toured 40 U.S. cities, opening for jazz legend Al Jarreau. In subsequent years, Take 6 headlined their own concerts and tours throughout the United States, the UK, Europe, and Japan. Take 6 also performed at a number of well-known events, venues, and jazz festivals, including Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, The Special Olympics, The Monterey Jazz Festival, and The Playboy Jazz Festival. Occasionally Take 6 shared billing with other, popular contemporary-Christian recording artists, such as Bebe & Cece Winans, The Winans, and Commissioned.
The popularity of Take 6 led to collaborations with many, established artists. In fact, it was through Take 6 that Warren first met Quincy Jones, establishing a musical friendship that would last for decades. Take 6 performed on several songs and interludes on Jones' album Back on the Block. In addition to performing with the group and contributing to their vocal arrangements, Warren is the featured voice on "Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song)", and he penned the lyrics for "The Verb To Be (Introduction to Wee B. Dooinit)." Jones also invited Warren to be a featured vocalist on the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)." At the time, for personal reasons, Warren respectfully declined the invitation. Since then, Warren has characterized it as "one of the very few decisions in my life that I truly regret." In the years since, Warren has arranged, produced, or co-produced numerous songs for various Jones projects.
In 1989, Take 6 recorded the song "Don't Shoot Me," for the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing. Warren produced the recording and co-wrote "Don't Shoot Me" with Lee and with group-members Claude V. McKnight, III and David Thomas.
That same year, Take 6 recorded background vocals on the Don Henley album The End of The Innocence. The collaboration had been requested, as a personal favor, by Jim Ed Norman, then-president of Warner Bros. Records in Nashville. Norman and Henley were longtime friends, Norman having previously produced many recordings by Henley's band The Eagles.
Other, notable Take 6 collaborations during that period include recordings with k.d. lang, Johnny Mathis, Stephanie Mills, Melba Moore, Joe Sample, Dino Kartsonakis, and composer Steve Dorff.
During Warren's tenure, Take 6 recorded music videos for three songs: "Spread Love," "I L-O-V-E U," and "Ridin' The Rails," their collaboration with k.d. lang, for the 1990 film Dick Tracy. During the same period, Take 6 also recorded theme music for the television show Murphy Brown, Oprah Winfrey's television miniseries The Women of Brewster Place," and commercials for Burger King and Mitsubishi.
During this period, Take 6 performed live on numerous television shows, including the 31st Grammy Awards, Good Morning America, The Today Show, David Sanborn's "Good Evening," The Arsenio Hall Show, The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, and Late Show with David Letterman. Take 6 also performed The National Anthem at the 1988 World Series.
In 1991 Warren left Take 6 to became a full-time record producer, songwriter, arranger, and film composer.
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