It's was Afros and pleated shirts, James Brown and Bootsy Collins. It was the '70s, and at an inner-city Houston high school history would be made. Charismatic band leader, Conrad "Prof" Johnson, would turn the school's mediocre jazz band into a legendary funk powerhouse. Now, 35 years later, his students prepare to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives--the 92-year old Prof. Some haven't played their horns in decades, still they dust off their instruments, determined to retake the stage to show Prof and the world that they've still got it. Written by Anonymous
Told with style and pizzazz, the rousing documentary Thunder Soul celebrates the Kashmere Stage Band, a worldwide sensation in the 1970s that will forever change the way you think about high school bands. When Conrad O. Johnson, a music teacher at a predominantly black high school in Houston, replaced the staid stage band standards with contemporary funk, jazz, and original compositions, he changed the lives of his students forever. Not only did they become one of the best bands, professional or amateur, around, but they learned lessons that stayed with them long after graduation, as evidenced thirty-five years later, when the band reunited to pay tribute to the man who made it all possible.
