Progressive Adventism

Alvin “Vinnie” Chea, a founding member of the 10-time Grammy award winning group Take 6, was born in San Francisco, California, in 1967. A graduate of Oakwood College, he earned a double major Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Communications. Over their 20-year history, in addition to becoming the most nominated R&B, Gospel or Jazz vocalists in Grammy history, Take 6 has garnered several other venerated music industry honors. As a veteran of the music industry, his singing voice has been heard on scores of movie soundtracks and music recordings. He is also a successful voice-over artist and can be heard on numerous television and radio commercials. With his first book, BassLines, Alvin has helped launch of the Take 6 Books Division of Take 6 Entertainment. He plans to follow up BassLines with Mo’ BassLines (slated for Summer 2008). A proud father of Channing, Braxton, and Alvin “Cole,” he lives in West Hills, California, and is currently pursuing a Juris Doctorate in entertainment law.

Your current album, “Feels Good.” How is it different from previous albums?

Feels Good was released by Take 6 Records, a company we started ourselves. So it has a different energy. Some of us have been singing for 27 years, but all that time we never truly owned the project. Now we have more control over the content and marketing and other aspects of production. As for the CD itself, it’s basically what Take 6 is about. It’s about our journey, our victory. It’s about “Come on everybody and praise God,” family of love, different things like that that encourage audiences in different walk of life to fight the fight. Some songs are overtly about God, others don’t mention God but are about being positive. In the end, they’re all about Jesus our Savior.

Why have you insisted on “a capella”? Will Take 6 ever branch out to different methods and genre?

We’ve actually branched out over our careers. Especially when collaborating with other artists, we’ve used instruments that they’ve used. But we came out of Negro Spiritual tradition with quartets singing a capella. Our fans have come to know and expect that from us. And that’s our niche and identity.

10 years of Take 6 in “Take 6 Medley.” That’s Vinnie talking at the beginning.

Where do you draw your musical inspiration? Any role models you seek to emulate?

I grew up playing classical piano. My biggest role model was Andre Watts. I loved watching him play as a kid. I remember going to watch him play when he came to the San Francisco Opera House. As for other forms, Stevie Wonder, groups like Manhattan Transfer. But I didn’t really grow up thinking that I would become a vocalist. I just liked watching classical performers, and I continue to enjoy classical music.

How do your Adventist heritage impact your singing and professional activities?

My parents were foreigners to America. My dad came from Liberia, and my mom from Guyana and South Africa. They always emphasized education and preparing yourself for the future, about knowing what you’re talking about. So the value of education that Adventism has made me very much into who I am. I can hear my mom telling me everyday, “prepare yourself.” All of that is part of who I am as a man, as a musician.

What place does Oakwood occupy in your life?

Oakwood has a dear spot in my heart. That’s where I met the guys. I was going to leave Oakwood in my junior year to Howard University. But that’s the summer that Take 6 got signed. We were discovered by Warner Brothers and were able to pull together right then. We felt strong ties to Oakwood even before they felt they had ties to us. They didn’t understand us at first. But after time, they saw what we were about, that we were about spreading Christ’s love. We’ve had a great relationship since then.

How did you get discovered by Warner Brothers?

Jim Ed Norman was the Nashville representative of Warner Brothers. There was this showcase where groups were supposed to go and audition for different record companies. Jim had kind of heard about us, that there was this a cappella group. But we didn’t know that. We didn’t think we performed well and whether anyone was interested in us. So we were pretty discouraged. But Jim called us 48 hours later and we signed on.

What sort of books, people, and activities feed you spiritually?

I enjoy music a lot. I don’t really get a chance to read spiritual books as much as I’d like to. I’m in law school now so all my book reading time goes into studying. Because I’m always doing concerts, I don’t like to go to concerts. But I enjoy inspirational music like Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, and Smokie Norful. I’m listening to a Fred Hammond record these days.

How do you stay focused and balanced spiritually with the fame that comes with success?

There’s six of us. We keep each other balanced. We don’t allow each other to get out of perspective. There’s checks and balance. We’ve been around a long time, so the implication of that is that we’ve seen the high and low times, the fame and obscurity. We’ve stayed together through ebbs and flows of life. So with God’s help these experiences ground you. These are the built-in reality checks.

Which church do you attend on a regular basis?

I attend the Canoga Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, not too far from my home in the San Fernando Valley [in Los Angeles]. I’m able to get there quite a bit. Usually what happens is that I get called to do special music or help out with the praise team, and I enjoy that.

What is your view on the “worship music war” that goes on in some of our bigger congregations?

I’ve learned a long time ago that worship is a learned experience. Our job as created beings is to worship Him and praise Him. Some are comfortable worshipping one way, some like the charismatic, some like the visual, while others are more cerebral. You have to find your own comfortable style. I’ve heard ministers say if you don’t stand up and clap, something’s wrong with you. And I’ve heard other ministers say if you do stand up and clap, something’s wrong with you. We tend to judge other by our own style. I do think that we in the Adventist church miss out on some things by being so cerebral. It’s a wonderful thing to also feel your worship experience.

Have you encountered those people who see the type of music you make as either spiritually questionable or outright from the devil?

When we first started, we got a lot of that. We were absolutely judged. In many, many, many sermons, they called us out. Whether or not they knew that we were in the congregation, I don’t know. That’s fine. We’ve always understood that this ministry is not intended for churchgoers. It’s intended for those who don’t normally listen to sermons or go to churches or evangelistic series. There are souls those who don’t feel God by going to a church and listening to hymns and organ music. Sister Jones who’s 75 who sings “The Old Rugged Cross”—that hymn is going to get her in the Kingdom. But someone else from another culture and different socioeconomic level will be reached differently. Different ministries and styles are important to have. It’s important to remember that one ministry should be careful in judging another.

Please tell me about your book, BassLines. What is it about and why did you write it?

After being on the road with the guys for 20-something yrs, I realized that there were so many sad, tragic, funny, hilarious things that happened that we wanted to share with our fans. There were a number of unfortunate experiences in my own life like my mom to dying of cancer, losing my wife through divorce and my children through divorce. These were Job experiences. My friends say I am “Job Y2K.” So I started writing these experiences for the guys and the fans. It was a risk being vulnerable, but what’s the point of coming over a mountain when you can’t help others to get over the mountain when it’s their time. So the book is about: music lessons, love lessons, life lessons.

You’re pursuing a law degree right now. What do you plan to do with it?

Yes, second-year law. This is one of the things I really wanted to do. I have a West Indies background. We don’t just talk about things; we just go for it. I thought about book writing, so I just went for it. I always wanted to study law, and the Lord led me to a program online. It’s really tough; it’s no joke. But the Lord is helping me. I’m going to specialize in entertainment law. With that, I would be giving first perusal for contracts that we get for different things that Take 6 embarks on. We would also look at new artists and eventually represent them. I want what I’m studying now to be used for ministry—whether it’s Take 6 Records, Take 6 Books, Take 6 Publishing, Take 6 Entertainment. We also want to help SDA artists who are thinking about starting out in the industry. We could help them by advising them, “Go over this bridge; don’t go over that.”

Which up-and-coming Adventists artist should we be watching out for?

I like the guys, Undivided, from Loma Linda. We’ve already talked about a recording contract and tried to mentor them. Carmen Hope from Oakwood. She’s very talented. She has a wonderful ministry. There’s Christian Dentley who’s a wonderful multi-talented guy who tours with us. When Cedric Dent can’t go out, Roger Ryan and Wayne Bucknor are the two guys that are coming up that sub in for him.

What is the last song you listened to on your iPod?

I just downloaded a “Civil Procedure” pod cast for law school and was listening to it when you called. The last piece of music that I listened to was “Trust in God,” originally by the Winans and re-sung by Men of Standard. This song truly bring tears to my eyes. After you’ve come through some experiences and had long, sad, lonely nights, or when you’re scared about money or a relationship or something else, that song really hits home.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.