A Great American Voice Brought Joy To The Faithful

By Frank Housh

In 1951 Lois Davis was singing gospel songs live on radio at the Ephesians Church of God in Christ in Berkeley, California when she left to give birth. Her child, Tramaine Aunzola Davis (Lady Tramaine Hawkins), began singing gospel at age four and never stopped, recording 10 albums, winning a roomful of awards and millions of fans.

Last night (October 18, 2024) Ms. Hawkins brought her music ministry to Kleinhans Music Hall, joined by the 120 member Buffalo United Community Choir and The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Henry Panion, III. 

Praise to God rained like fire in Kleinhans Music Hall last night. It was not the first time that happened around here.

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Two hundred years ago America’s “Second Great Awakening” brought traveling preachers to the Genesee River Valley following the development of the Erie Canal. For five decades, evangelical “camp meetings” created such religious fervor that historians declared this area the “Burnt Over District.” 

Mormons, Shakers, Seventh Day Adventists, and Spiritualists were among the many religious movements that began two centuries ago in central and western New York. 

Indeed, I write these words in an area once inhabited by the Ebenezer Society, a Christian Utopian colony whose ancestors were radical, end-time Huguenots (Protestants in a Catholic nation) kicked out of France by Louis XIV by the Edict of Fontainebleu (1685) following the Sun King’s renunciation of the Edict of Nantes (1598). 

The religious movement brought with it “gospel” music which, mixed with existing regional music, created several distinct styles. As the Second Great Awakening preceded the American Civil War, white and black people developed separate gospel music traditions. 

In the Puritan north, white gospel was represented by the rigid hymns many of us grew up singing in church to an organ accompaniment. These hymns were modeled after European song forms and inspired by Jewish psalmody, or the singing of Psalms as religious worship.

In Appalachia and the South, white gospel mixed with bluegrass and country music to create “Southern Country Gospel,” or “Bluegrass Gospel.” Note the un-syncopated rhythms, or emphasis on the first and third beats. This is the traditional pattern of western music, prior to its transformation by syncopated, African rhythms (emphasis on second and fourth beats).

African American gospel music, in contrast, derives from spiritual, charismatic, Pentecostal traditions for which music is a catalyst for a direct, personal, connection with God. 

Gospel performances are less a passive, receptive experience than a participatory, religious one during which audience members call out expressions of joy and give praise by standing and raising their hands to God. 

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Last night, Lady Tramaine Hawkins’ powerful soprano filled Kleinhans with the gospel spirit in a two-hour performance supported by piano, organ, drums, bass, guitar, the Buffalo United Community Choir, and The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Panion’s relaxed, friendly banter quickly won over the audience as some of Buffalo’s finest musicians began the concert. Karen Saxon and Wynetta Hall McElveen gave voice to (respectively) “Break Forth Praise” and “Peace and Favor Rest on Us;” local composer Ella Robinson conducted her compositions “Deliver Me” and “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart.” 

George Brown joined Ms. Hawkins for a rousing duet performance of the iconic “Potter’s House,” one of several of the evening program’s songs composed by her ex-husband Walter Hawkins. Click here for a live recording from 1990.

It was Ms. Hawkins’ powerful soprano, however, that brought the audience to its feet. Highlights included “Goin’ Up Yonder,” a meditation on death as a return to God, and “I Never Lost My Praise,” a powerful testimony of faith in the face of a life-threatening illness. 

The combination of 120 voices, electric instruments, an orchestra, and Ms. Hawkins’ amplified voice endured some (inevitable) turbulence, including a false start during “Changed,” but that is to be expected. 

The BPO may have been on the Kleinhans stage, but it was channeling the gospel experience rather than interpreting Beethoven. Praising God gets messy, and the level of musicianship remained high throughout the concert. 

A great American voice came to Buffalo last night and brought joy to the faithful. It wasn’t the first time, it won’t be the last time, but it will likely be long remembered.

Frank Housh is The Buffalo Hive’s Managing Editor.