It’s a Saturday evening at a Brookside coffee house. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed. I’m chatting with an old friend as a musical ensemble sets up in the corner to play. A woman in her 80′s sits down in the corner and neatly arranges some sheet music while the younger guys around her set up bass and acoustic guitars. I was starting to wonder where this was going until I heard her warm up. And then I was hooked.
The woman was Gwendolyn Ransom, and her voice was pure magic. Some of the listeners who stuck around and enjoyed her music described her as “the female Louis Armstrong.” Her voice was wavering, yet strong and passionate. She sang easy tunes, old jazz, and hymns. I was in love.
After the show, she expressed to me her gratitude that so many stuck around to listen to her sing. She wasn’t always a singer, she told me. After a heart attack a few years back, there were mornings where she never wanted to get out of bed. After a number of attempts at other new hobbies, she finally came to singing as a last resort.
“Music,” she told me, “saved my life.”
What makes Gwendolyn Ransom’s musical style unique is that her listeners feel free to join. Her regular Sunday morning gigs at The Blue Jackalope are particularly fun, she says, because they often become a small congregation of musicians who all preach the same message: music is good. Music is universal. And sometimes, music will save your soul.
True Tulsa is a weekly project that highlights the people and places that make our city great.
Note: This article originally published October 15, 2010
Related posts:
Johnny Polygon
look
True Tulsa
Johnny Polygon
Michael Cooper
It’s been an assiduous two years for Tulsa native Johnny Polygon. After making a name…
- Jimmy Markham
look
True Tulsa
Jimmy Markham
Shane Brown
Musician Jimmy “Junior” Markham is one of the caretakers of the Tulsa Sound.
Annie Ellicott
read
True Tulsa
Annie Ellicott
Ralph Cole
Annie Ellicott is a prolific singer, songwriter, and actress in Tulsa.
- Jazz on a Diamond-Needle Hi-Fi
read
Poetry
Jazz on a Diamond-Needle Hi-Fi
Deborah J. Hunter
Mama dropped the needle and my heart jumped.
It was fascinating, titillating,
be-boppin’,… - Aboard the Dixie Train
read
Okiecentric
Aboard the Dixie Train
Shawna Lewis
I called ahead. The hostess at Crow Creek Tavern said former American Idol contestant Matt…
Grocery Store Gospel
listen
The Sound of Our Land
Grocery Store Gospel
Abby Wendle
Once a week, community members gather in the Blue Jackalope grocery store and coffee shop…
- David Horne
look
True Tulsa
David Horne
Michael Cooper
Eccentric street musician David Horne serenades his beloved companion, Althea.
-
http://www.cooperphotog.com/blog/?p=1349 GWENDOLYN RANSOM >> MICHAEL COOPER
-
Kevin Byrne
