As a music educator in the making, one of the thoughts that crosses my mind on a regular basis is, "How will I generate a sense of pride within the community of my program, so that students will learn to love music with the same sense of passion and reverence that I have for the art form?" My own journey on the path to becoming a public school music educator has taken many twists and turns. While growing up in both Windsor and Simsbury, Connecticut, music was something that I always enjoyed, which had a varying degree of presence in my life. Prior to picking up the violin in fourth grade, I had always participated in school choirs and truly enjoyed the act of singing as part of a large ensemble. My choir teachers were quite complimentary of my abilities and insisted that I participate in additional groups such as "Special Chorus" and "Boys Ensemble". I even had a teacher who recommended that I audition for the part of Winthrop in The Music Man during the summer following my fifth grade year. However, during the previous months I had begun learning the alto saxophone and was eagerly looking forward to summer vacation, when my parents had consented that I could begin taking private lessons, where I planned to switch to the tenor saxophone. My Dad played this very same horn during high school and after seeing a picture of him as a member of the New York Military Academy Stage Band and hearing of the performance opportunities he was given, I had made up my mind that this was the instrument I too was destined to play. When one of my choir teachers found out that I wore this additional music-related hat, she posed the following question to my Mom, "Do you want him to be stuck in the pit orchestra for the rest of his life, when he could be taking center stage?" Little did I know that this rapport that I was building with the tenor saxophone would lead me to the position that I currently sit in, poised to become a public school music educator, with specific sights set on high school band. One thing that I have found in life is that more often than not, it is these little, seemingly unrelated occurrences that shape who it is that we ultimately become. As much as I enjoyed playing the tenor saxophone, it wasn't until I began attending the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts that I truly fell in love with music and decided that I wanted to pursue the art form for the remainder of my life. Throughout middle school and early high school, I didn't practice my instrument and the accompanying applicable skills sets nearly as much as I should have. I was constantly listening to music, particularly that of the Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Phish, the Rolling Stones, the Doobie Brothers, Steve Miller Band, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan and countless other classic rock and/or jam band icons. These artists represented some of my very first forays into the realm of "improvisational music". It was from this jumping off point that I would discover the wonderful world of jazz in its many variations. In previous blog postings I have documented the close-minded, snobbish phase that ensued, where for a year or so, I did not want to listen to anything other than recordings from the bebop and hard bop eras respectively, ranging from 1945 - 1960 or so. However, upon breaking out of this intellectual and creative prison, my ears had never been more open to the many sounds around me. I could not get my hands on enough music. Any recording, artist, genre or ensemble that came my way had to be given a listen. My sonic palette had suddenly ceased to have limitations. I felt that all music, regardless of its origins, had something to offer, and that if I ever wanted to create a voice that was truly my own, I needed to have as many diverse influences as possible. The You Tube clip below comes from the Jimi Hendrix album "Live at Woodstock" and is a prime example of some of the first improvisational listening experiences I had as a junior high school student in the late 1990's and early 2000's. The first part of this clip is a radio documentary chronicling the thirtieth anniversary of the "Live at Woodstock" album, which was recorded on Monday, August 18, 1969, featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar and vocals, Billy Cox on background vocals and bass, Mitch Mitchell on drums, Juma Sultan on percussion, Larry Lee on guitar and Jerry Velez on percussion.
One of the main reasons why I recount the experiences in question is because I was able to access new repertoire, artists and genres through music that I was already familiar with. Although I had been a part of jazz band and jazz combo in the Simsbury Public School System from fifth through tenth grade, I didn't actively listen to so-called "jazz music" until much later in my musical development. One of my teachers tried hipping me to Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon, but I was not quite ready to embrace the sounds of these masters at the age of twelve. My ears needed to absorb textures, harmonies and rhythms that were more familiar to the environment that I was a part of on a day to day basis. During my seventh grade year, it became a routine for my classmates and I to come home after school and turn on MTV at 3:00 p.m., so that we could watch Total Request Live (TRL) with Carson Daly, getting a sneak peek at what songs were "hot" on the charts at that time. In the documentary Thunder Soul music educator Conrad O. Johnson, better known as "Prof.", discusses how in the early to mid-1970's, he came to the realization that he needed to allow his students to express themselves as they were, "I had to teach them how to play funk. You could just hear the difference. It wasn't just playing, it was what you put into it." Students at Kashmere High School in northeastern Houston, Texas were constantly surrounded by a blend of what some might call soul, r&b and funk put together. The sounds of James Brown, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Bar-Kays, Parliament Funkadelic, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, The Commodores, Kool and the Gang and Sly and the Family Stone were everywhere for the ear to pick up and the spirit to latch on to. Prof. Johnson knew that it was time for a radical change within the canon of Kashmere Stage Band's material. The ensemble started off playing selections such as George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward's "Summertime", but as a ballad, meaning that the tempo was going to be rather on the slow side. Students enjoyed this song, but they wanted to tackle something that spoke more to their generation. The kids had high energy and once rehearsal was over, they would have informal jam sessions in the funk vein. Observing this, Prof. Johnson took the jazz, which was the band's base, and proceeded to combine funk and jazz in his own original compositions. A terrific example of this concept is demonstrated in the You Tube audio clip below, which features the Conrad O. Johnson original "Head Wiggle". In the words of Kashmere Stage Band alumni percussionist Donald Compton, "Don't die and go to heaven until you hear this song called 'Head Wiggle'."
The height of the Kashmere Stage Band was from 1972 - 1978, a time when the African-American community was thriving on the triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement. In the words of several alumni members of the ensemble, "There were a lot of good things happening and pride was strong. People felt as though anything was possible. Our parents had fought long and hard to give us more freedom and opportunities. Black power was pervasive across the country. Afros, fashion and girls were everywhere at Kashmere High School." Conrad O. Johnson was able to embrace the cultural, social and political developments in both his local community and across the United States, to create a musical community that blossomed in ways that no one had previously thought possible. His goal was to build a band of young people that was the equivalent of professionals in both sound and appearance. Former members of the group recall how, "He reached into our souls. He could see the future inside of us." The Kashmere Stage Band gave the community part of its identity. Everyone could be proud of the band, because they were kickin'. In the words of the director from a competing high school, "They were the baddest band in the nation and they made their statement. When they were at their peak, they were better than any funk band, professional or otherwise in the country." Prof. Johnson felt that the most exciting part of being a band director is introducing people to all of the things that a band can do, and how well they can do it. One of the most intoxicating aspects of the Kashmere Stage Band was their deep groove and driving pulse. Prof. Johnson asserted that this feeling came from his demanding it, "You have to develop first in his mind that he can do it. Once he realizes that he can play with the same quality of sound that a professional has, then he'll stick with it and he'll strive for that, but this has to be developed in his mind, and that's the first thing I work for." Each alumni member of the Kashmere Stage Band profiled in Thunder Soul has their own fond memories of Conrad O. Johnson. The loyalty, camaraderie, focus, dedication, support and unwavering commitment that he was able to develop in all of the young people whom he crossed paths with is particularly incredible. Pianist Craig Baldwin talks about how if it was not for Prof.'s mentorship, he probably would not be alive today. "You came into the room with your focus ready to play. Do not come into this room late, do not talk, do not interrupt, do not this, that, I don't care if it's chewing gum." Johnson stated that, "My whole desire is to train and shape the mind of each individual that I come in contact with, from the stand point of teaching him. When they first come to me, regardless as to what kind of tone they have, I work to develop that tone and that's the first step, learn to play the instrument, then the music." This philosophy is fantastic in that it teaches students to truly love their given instrument, before they are thrust head long into the wonders of performing recognizable songs. With my own background in jazz, when I think about someone like Jackie McLean, I am struck by the parallels with Conrad O. Johnson's mantra. If Jackie McLean had not known the alto saxophone inside and out, there is no way that he would have been able to execute the impeccable ideas that he turned out in solo after solo, recording after recording. The picture below epitomizes the meeting of culture, music and learning that Prof. Johnson was able to achieve at Kashmere High School in Houston, Texas during the late 1960's through the end of the 1970's.
Prof. Johnson made it a point to form a special bond with all of his students, over half of whom were young men that came from home environments that lacked a strong male presence. These students came to rely heavily on Johnson, who "didn't just teach us the music [,but] taught us how to be men." Craig Baldwin recalls walking up to Prof., "...and it was all about the thug attitude, the thug language, you know, you don't talk to me like that. I don't care if I understand what you're saying, you don't talk to me like that. 'Cause you never know who you're gonna be talking to out in the field, and you're representing me. You're representing the Kashmere Stage Band, you're representing Kashmere High School and you're representing your community. Don't come in here with your thug personality." Prof. was clearly a very honest, straight-forward and confident person. Through his unwavering vision, he was able to create one of the most memorable, talented, progressive and powerful public school music ensembles of the twentieth century in America. He believed that there was no limit to a child's ability to play music and subsequently set incredibly high standards for his students. He inspired them to put everything that they had into the art form. Johnson said that, "When I'm teaching young people, I feel that I'm giving them something that they can lean on all the rest of their lives." It is my belief that if a music educator is able to communicate this love for passing on knowledge to future generations, then he or she will have a student populace that is ready and willing to follow, no matter where the path to knowledge might travel. The outpouring of support and participation shown by Prof. Johnson's former students in coming together to celebrate his legacy, despite thirty plus years of separation is a testament to the impact that this man had on countless adolescents over the course of his thirty-seven year teaching career. Students under Johnson's watchful eye knew that they were getting every ounce of everything that he had to give on a daily basis, within and outside of school. Although the community that Prof. worked in was low-income and stricken with much poverty, this did not stop him from expecting the absolute best from his students, each and every time that they walked into his classroom. In the early 1970's someone wrote a newspaper article about how when students entered the Kashmere High School band room, it was as though they were setting foot inside a temple or cathedral. The students knew that Prof. Johnson was not going settle for anything less than one hundred percent, but the rigor and regimen of the Kashmere Stage Band created a family, which was able to pick up right where they left off, as they all came together to celebrate Prof. in February of 2008. The clip below features the Kashmere Alumni Stage Band performing their theme song "Kashmere" live at the Ford Amphitheater on June 26, 2010 for a screening of Thunder Soul.
I think that Thunder Soul and Conrad O. Johnson teach music educators some extremely important lessons about building meaningful relationships with students and establishing a love for music within each learner who crosses our respective paths. If a student knows that the standards are consistently going to be high, then we hope that they will rise to the occasion in an effort to continually meet this mark, if not surpass the expectation. Learners want to be challenged by feeling that we always expect them to succeed. Prof. proves that the capabilities of a child are limitless and each student can do anything that they set their mind to. A pupil who sets foot in our classroom needs to know that as educators and musicians we are extremely open-minded. We are constantly examining a wide array of repertoire and our ears are tuned into what sounds students are gravitating towards. The musicians in the Kashmere Stage Band grew up with funk, soul and r&b. Conrad O. Johnson was able to incorporate these elements into an already established jazz foundation, to create a hybrid where the joys of both students' and his respective worlds met in perfect harmony. Through embracing the stylistic elements of James Brown and other funk icons, perhaps Johnson was able to open his students ears to the sound of Duke Ellington, a man who meant everything in the world to him. Before we hope to accomplish anything "academic" with our students, they need to be receptive to who we are as people. Prof. Johnson was clearly able to show his students that he was constantly in their corner and had their best interests as adolescents/young adults in mind. This gave them the self-confidence to excel under his tutelage, but most importantly it developed trust between teacher and student, which is critical if any real learning is to take place. The children in the Kashmere Stage Band knew that they could depend on Prof., which in turn meant that he could depend on them. Prof. Conrad O. Johnson is a true inspiration, not just for music educators, but teachers across the content areas and around the globe. The legacy that he leaves behind and all that he accomplished throughout his storied career, as well as in life is something that should motivate anyone privileged enough to learn the story of the Kashmere Stage Band. I recommend Thunder Soul to all reading this posting and advise you to hip friends and family alike to the documentary. The power of music knows no boundaries!
"You came into the room with your focus ready to play. Do not come into this room late, do not talk, do not interrupt, do not this, that, I don't care if it's chewing gum." Johnson stated that, "My whole desire is to train and shape the mind of each individual that I come in contact with, from the stand point of teaching him. When they first come to me, regardless as to what kind of tone they have, I work to develop that tone and that's the first step, learn to play the instrument, then the music."---great quote.
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