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Revisiting the ‘Soul’ of a remarkable high school jazz band

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Anyone compiling a list of the all-time great funk masterminds would inevitably think of names such as James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone. One name that may not come as readily to most is Conrad O. Johnson, band director of the Kashmere Stage Band. As the new documentary “Thunder Soul” makes clear, Johnson and his group of Houston, Texas, high school students likely deserve recognition alongside those pantheon players.


FOR THE RECORD:
‘Thunder Soul’: The Indie Focus column last Sunday about the documentary “Thunder Soul” said that the Los Angeles Film Festival screening and live performance would take place today. The event was scheduled to take place Saturday. —


“Thunder Soul,” directed by Mark Landsman, tells the story of the student band from Kashmere High School. Under the leadership of Johnson, known to his students as “Prof,” the band brought a powerful rhythm and soulful freshness to jazz band competitions more often marked by a certain staidness. A joyous homage to Johnson, “Thunder Soul” is playing as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 27. The screening will be followed by a live performance from many of the musicians featured in the film.

Landsman was listening to NPR in 2006 when he first heard about Johnson and the Kashmere Stage Band. Knocked out by the music he heard, and incredulous that it was played by high school kids some 30 years previous, he looked up every Conrad Johnson he could in the Houston area. He first reached Prof Johnson’s son, who gave him the number for the retired musical director. It took Landsman about a week to work up the courage to call, and Johnson chastised him for the delay.

FOR THE RECORD:
“Thunder Soul”: A June 20 article in the Calendar section on the documentary “Thunder Soul” said the Los Angeles Film Festival screening and live performance would take place June 27. The event will take place June 26.

“He said, ‘What’s your problem, man. I’ve been waiting for your call,’” remembered Landsman. A journey had begun.

In many ways, “Thunder Soul” is actually two movies. One features the outsized afros and vintage bellbottoms of the early ‘70s band, chronicling in particular its spirited, groundbreaking 1972 run for a national title. The other is the more heartfelt story of the buildup to the February 2008 reunion show, as 30-odd former members of the band got back together to play for Prof Johnson, then in his 90s, one more time.

“To me, it’s totally integrated,” Landsman said of the film’s twin strands. “In order to understand the story in the present day it’s essential to understand who they were and what they went through, the obstacles they faced. And just how iconoclastic Prof was in that time — what he did in the time period was unprecedented.”

Whereas many competitors were playing such traditional numbers as “Summertime,” “Satin Doll” or “Rhapsody in Blue,” the Kashmere Stage Band was playing a mix of originals and Johnson’s arrangements of contemporary tunes, with titles such as “Headwiggle,” “Zero Point” and “Thunder Soul,” complete with choreographed stage moves.

“That’s exactly what made the Kashmere Stage Band special,” said Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, owner of the Now Again music label that put out a compilation in 2006 of Kashmere Stage Band recordings culled from the eight albums and three 45s recorded and released by Johnson.

Noting that he has likely heard literally thousands of stage band recordings, Alapatt continued, “Nine times out of 10 if you get a high school stage record from the late ‘60s, early ‘70s, generally these guys were playing bad, schmaltzy versions of jazz standards done from charts for stage bands by music publishing houses which in the hands of lesser band directors were just fodder for average music recorded by average kids across the country. And every once in a while you find a guy with a vision.”

It was Alapatt’s compilation that was featured on the NPR piece heard by Landsman. Landsman’s initial impulse after visiting Johnson was to pursue a fictional feature based on his story. Once Landsman heard rumblings that Kashmere alumni were talking about playing together again, he switched to making a documentary and was there to capture the very first rehearsals for the reunion.

“It was 30-odd years later,” said Craig Baldwin, a member of the band from 1974 to 1976 who acted as musical director for the reunion. “They were out of tune and they didn’t have that power, that Conrad Johnson power, the contest power, but it came together within a few days of rehearsing.”

While the final concert is a moment of triumph and tribute for Johnson, some of those rehearsals were a bit shaky in the early going. There was of course always looming another possible version of events, in which the band got back together and simply didn’t have it anymore.

“That first rehearsal I was a part of, I was, like, ‘This is horrible,’” recalled Gaila Mitchell, flute player with the band from 1975 to 1978, who has herself gone on to be a music teacher and band director. “But then the next day, as I went inside the band room, I saw people practicing in the hallway like when we were kids, getting those lips and fingers in shape.”

As the band was preparing for its shows, Johnson’s health began to fail, making the reunion feel like a race against time itself. He suffered a heart attack and was released from the hospital on the very day of the scheduled reunion show.

“We could never have predicted what would have happened,” said Landsman. “When you’re doing these things, as a documentary filmmaker, you could never script the things that happen in life. They’re just so extraordinary.”

At one point in the film, Johnson, who passed away in 2008, says: “I think any school administrator who votes for taking music out of the system, he ought to be fired.” While the film certainly act as a de facto defense for the importance of arts education in schools, its message is more personal than political. One thing that comes through loud and clear in the film is that the lives of these students were changed by being in Johnson’s band and it was an experience they all took forward into their adult lives.

“Out of the hundreds of students that passed through the Kashmere Stage Band, not all of them went on to do music professionally,” said Alapatt, “but you have to imagine most of them took something from the training and moral compass that Conrad bestowed upon them. It wasn’t some ethics class, but Conrad showed these kids how to be good people.”

calendar@latimes.com

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