Advertisement

Movies & TV News & Features

Thunder Soul

THUNDER SOUL (Mark Landsman) screens Wednesday (February 2) at the Bloor, followed by a Q&A with director Landsman. See listings. Rating: NNNN


Thunder Soul, this month’s Doc Soup entry, has potent politics, a powerful emotional through line and some of the best musical performances ever seen on film. Here’s the kicker: the players are high schoolers.

Mark Landsman’s documentary follows the alumni of Houston’s all-black Kashmere High School Stage Band when they reunite for a concert to honour their musical director, Conrad O. “Prof” Johnson.

As the 50-year-olds gather and prepare for the concert (some of them haven’t played their instruments in 30 years), Landsman offers footage of the band’s early years. At the time, school stage bands wearing tacky suits performed mostly mainstream jazz standards. But with Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins and George Clinton making their mark on pop culture, Johnson added the funk factor to his compositions, including cool choreography. The Kashmere Band became a sensation and was the first all-black band to win the national championship.

The film works as a snapshot of the early 70s – wild clothes, spectacular afros – and of a new generation of black youth who had pride and new opportunities. It’s also testimony to the influence of Prof Johnson, who instilled in his students a sense of purpose and personal responsibility.

Now when you watch the Grammys and hear all those pleadings to restore funding for school music programs, you realize what’s at stake. These aren’t the squirm-inducing bands and orchestras I recall from my school days, but brilliant, professional-level artists – that goes for the white school bands, too – whose involvement in music programs changed their lives.

Take a ride on this soul train.

Screens Wednesday (February 2) at the Bloor, followed by a Q&A with director Landsman.

Read Q&A with Thunder Soul’s Mark Landsman

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.