SXSW Review: Thunder Soul
What you should do instead of reading this review is find a way to see the movie Thunder Soul; I guarantee within the first few minutes you'll be hooked.
Perhaps you need more than an urging from me and all the other people who loved it. The best documentaries expose us to things we might not otherwise be aware, educate, motivate and entertain, and prove that fact can be wilder than fiction. The best can do all of the above. Thunder Soul, directed by Mark Landsman, is a documentary that has done all of the above, and will make you reach for your wallet to help fund music in schools and to buy high school students music. It proves just how important a music program can be to the students of your local school.
Thunder Soul is both a profile of stage band director and composer Conrad O. Johnson and a celebration of the music he and his students created. Between 1968 and 1977, the Kashmere High School in Houston's 5th Ward had a stage band performing music that put professionals to shame. With 42 regional titles, 2 national titles, and invitations to play in Europe and Japan, the Kashmere Stage Band took the world by storm.
"Prof" Johnson brought contemporary music and performance to the generic jazz standards being performed at most other schools, and not only put Kashmere on the map, but transformed the lives of the students. At least one of these students credits Johnson with saving his life. Johnson's life and tenure at the Kashmere High School is worthy of a documentary of its own but as Thunder Soul points out, his musical legacy is not just the recordings, but the lives he's touched. Three decades after they left Kashmere High School, 30 bandmembers from a ten-year period reunite in the old band hall to rehearse for a special tribute performance in honor of their 92-year-old "Prof" in 2008.
Older, wiser and in some cases rusty, the students recount those earlier years while rehearsing with instruments some of them haven't touched in decades. In their fifties, there's a lot of perspective they have on their time at Kashmere and in the band, at a time when the school's achievements were at its zenith. By the time of the performance, every one on the stage will earn your respect, because they still have it, in part thanks to Johnson. And they own that room.
Infused with the remastered music of the Kashmere Stage Band, if the Thunder Soul story doesn't get you, the music will. It's impossible to sit still as the music is tight and infectious. When other bands were performing generic jazz, the Kashmere Stage Band was playing funked out contemporary compositions, many composed by Johnson, and infusing it with moves worthy of a seasoned professional band. Instead of just winning local competition, the Kashmere Stage Band started winning national competitions and vetting invitations to perform around the world.
Today the Kashmere Stage band and Conrad Johnson may seem obscure, but thanks to Now-Again Music, in 2006 a double-disc reissue of Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974, culled from their 8 albums and including previously unreleased live recordings, was re-released. When initially released, it hit the top 10 on Amazon, and according to my sources, has been a strong seller at Austin's Waterloo Records since it was released.
In Prof's own words, "I think any school administrator who votes for taking music out of the system, they ought to be fired. Don’t take it out. Leave it there. It can help those kids … even if it's not the most top rated, leave it there, it is an experience they will otherwise not get in life." In an era when some schools haven't had a music program in years and others are threatened, Conrad Johnson and his students are proof positive of the power of music to make a lasting positive impression. Thanks to Thunder Soul (and Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974), it's a legacy everyone else can experience.
Step aside, Mr. Holland, a fictional Opus cannot compare to the grooves of the real-life Thunder Soul.
Austin Connection: Kashmere Stage Band alum and trumpet player in the reunion band is Austinite Greg Garlow, now an Adjunct Government Instructor at Austin Community College. There are probably more Kashmere alumni now in Austin, but that's the only one I can verify at this time. If you know of others, do let Slackerwood know.