It was a time of afros and pleated shirts; James Brown and Bootsy Collins. It was the '70s, and an inner-city Houston high school was about to make history. Charismatic band leader, Conrad “Prof” Johnson would turn the school's mediocre jazz band into a legendary funk powerhouse.Now, 35 years later in the feel-good documentary film ‘Thunder Soul', his students prepare to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives, the 92-year-old Prof. Some haven't played their horns in decades, still they dust off their instruments determined to retake the stage to show Prof and the world that they've still got it.In the early '70s, Kashmere high school was the only all-black school on the stage band circuit. Like the other bands, they played the music of Benny Goodman and other jazz standards. But Prof Johnson decided the band members should play the music they loved funk. The result was a band so awe-inspiringly talented that these teens from Houston won virtually every competition they entered, recorded an album, and were invited to tour France and Japan.“I first heard about the band on National Public Radio,” says director Mark Landsman. “This huge funk music came through the radio, and I thought this must be the obvious choices of the bands I love James Brown band or the P-Funk. And then the reporter came on and said, ‘Can you believe these are 14-, 15-, 16-year-old high school students from Houston circa 1971?' I just flipped out.”He combed the Houston phone book, ready to call every Conrad Johnson with a film pitch. The first person to answer was Prof's son, who sounded interested and provided his dad's number. Then Landsman stalled. He was so moved by the story that he waited for a week before ringing the number.“I finally picked up the phone to call him and I said, ‘Prof?' and he said, ‘Who is it?' I said, ‘It's Mark Landsman, the filmmaker from L.A.' He said, ‘What's wrong with you California people? I've been waiting all week for your call.'”Landsman soon learned that, as a tribute to Johnson, the award-winning lineup of the Kashmere stage band was getting back together, despite not having performed in decades. Once they sat down in the old band room and pulled out their instruments, the years fell away, and friendships were rekindled. They were going to put on another show in honour of Prof, the inspirational teacher who changed their lives.“We never could have predicted the events that transpired. Any of them,” says Landsman. “The only thing I knew was that on such and such a date, this group of people was going to get together at Kashmere high school for the first time in 35 years.”Not surprisingly, ‘Thunder Soul' is backed with wall-to-wall music the kind of infectious soul rhythms that put Kashmere on the map but the heart of the story is the people behind the music.“The challenge about approaching a story like this, with real living people, is that you are going to do it justice, that you are going to show it the respect that it commands,” Landsman says.“When you are dealing with a character as legendary as Conrad Johnson is in his community, there's an obligation as the filmmaker to make sure you do that right. And there's really no wiggle room for anything else, because you can't do it any other way. There's a lot of pressure as a filmmaker, but it's beautiful pressure because it keeps you honest and it keeps you on point.”Landsman is currently in development on a dramatic film that focuses on the band in their '70s heyday. As it turns out, the larger-than-life character of Prof didn't just inspire his students, he inspired everyone he met, Landsman included.“He was really one of these rare figures who walked the talk.”Thunder SoulSaturday, 6.30pm Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute