CD Review: Kashmere Stage Band Texas Thunder Soul
Kashmere Stage Band
Texas Thunder Soul 1968 – 1974
Now Again
This impressive collection of gritty instrumental funk and soul music was captured in the six years that the Kashmere Stage Band was under the guidance of band leader Conrad O. Johnson, and it’s especially impressive considering that Johnson was a high school music teacher and the Kashmere Stage Band was a high school big band. This group of young players was so adept and so talented at such a young age that these recordings could pass as the work of seasoned veteran funk and soul musicians. There are some well composed originals and a fair amount of cover tunes on this release, and it’s all given exuberant life by these young players, whose signature is left through amazing soloing and some of the tightest in-the-pocket playing south of Motown.
– Max Sidman
Listen to “I Wish” by Kashmere Stage Band.
