A booming new documentary with a dynamite soundtrack tells the one-of-a-kind story of the Kashmere High School Stage Band. It all began in Houston, Texas in the late 1960s when Conrad Johnson took a job as Music Director at the predominantly African American school. Johnson transformed the kids and the music. Imagine "Friday Night Lights" but with big sound and bigger hair.
At the time, high school band competitions were old fashioned, mostly white and fiercely competitive. Johnson's kids would break through using his elaborate funk arrangements and slick showmanship. They went on to win the prestigious "Most Outstanding Band in the Nation" award at the All American High School State Band Festival in Mobile, Alabama in 1972 – the same year the state's segregationist Governor George Wallace would announce a run for presidency.
The Kashmere Stage Band went on to tour Europe and Japan, and their successes reverberated back home, as well. In the documentary, 30 former Stage Band members reunite for the first time in 35 years to pay tribute to the man they call "Prof," Conrad Johnson. Jamie Foxx presents what Aint It Cool News calls "[O]ne of those rare, beautiful movies that takes you everywhere you want it to."
Guests:
Mark Landsman, Director, “Thunder Soul”
Gaila Johnson Mitchell, Flautist in Kashmere Stage Band 1975-1978; Director of Bands at Phillis Wheatley High School in the Houston Independent School District in Houston,Texas
Thunder Soul opens in Los Angeles this Friday, October 7. It will be showing at the Rave Crenshaw Plaza 15, Arclight Beach Cities 16 in El Segundo, Lakewood Center Stadium 16, Culver Plaza 6 in Culver City, Burbank Town Center 8, Long Beach Stadium 26, Ontario Mills 30, and the Block 30 at Orange in Orange County.