Conrad Johnson Kashmere Stage Band Article

pointman

Nov. 12, 2005, 1:38AMSTILL PERFECTING HIS ARTAt 90, Johnson looks back on career spent passing on his knowledge of jazz to new generationsBy SALATHEIA BRYANTCopyright 2005 Houston ChronicleKaren Warren / ChronicleConrad Johnson talks to high school students who perform his music during a practice of the Conrad Johnson Youth Orchestra.On a recent rehearsal night, local saxophonist Conrad Johnson sat with his thin legs loosely crossed and hands clasped on his lap, listening as the youth orchestra that carries his name played one of his original compositions.He gazes off knowingly into the distance as the trumpets, trombones and saxophones blend to create the big band sound. He doesn't tap his feet, bob his head or allow his body to betray any connection to the score.But as soon as the last notes evaporate into the quietness of the Waltrip High School band room, Johnson leaps to his feet with a ready critique for these area high school students. He starts with a compliment."It sounded real nice," said Johnson. Then begins his lesson."I hear shades of that thing I'm talking about called excellence. Even though your sound is good, once you hear this sound you are not going to settle for anything less," he continued. "You want to make those judges sit and listen. When a judge puts his pencil down and just listens, it means you're playing at the excellent level."Johnson has built a professional music and teaching career on moments like this, passing on his love and knowledge of jazz to another generation.In honor of his 90th birthday on Tuesday, the Conrad O. Johnson Music and Fine Arts Foundation will hold a gala tonight for the man who passed up an opportunity to go on the road, choosing instead to raise his family and teach music. It was a decision, he said, he's never regretted.Some of the proceeds from the birthday celebration will help the foundation fulfill another one of Johnson's dreams: to build a local jazz museum celebrating the contributions of artists and preserving the jazz tradition.He still performsJohnson, who is called "Prof," is also expected to perform."He's reached a milestone. He's vibrant and still perfecting his craft," said Artie Onayemi, executive director of the foundation. "He wants to leave something tangible. Something that kids can learn from."Johnson has been a musician for more than 70 years. He was inducted into the Texas Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame in 2000.He spent more than three decades teaching jazz to public school students in Houston. The highlight of his teaching career came at Kashmere High School as the director of the school's stage band. The band won first place in 42 out of 46 local, regional and national contests entered between 1969 and 1977. The band once had to compete against 85 other bands in one contest. It also recorded albums and toured in Europe, Japan and the United States.Ben Gollehon, chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, still remembers the band's perfection when it performed at an event held at the Rice Hotel back in the '60s."You had to open your eyes to make sure Count Basie wasn't up there. It was just that good," said Gollehon. "That was 40 years ago and we're still talking about it. He's truly an outstanding teacher and musician."Hungered for moreJohnson's love affair with music started as a young boy when he saw a magazine ad offering a saxophone as reward for selling a quota of salve. He said he sent off for the salve and sold all his product in a day. But what he got back from the company was a toy saxophone. Disappointed but determined, he played on it and hungered for more."I was going to be a musician. I couldn't help it," he said."Most people work jobs they don't like. I like this job."His job has been giving students what he was raised on: Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He wanted them to play jazz the way he thought Billie Holiday sang. He is fond of saying that he doesn't teach students, he teaches musicians."It takes a lot of musical understanding to be a jazz musician. You have to study the masters, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Count Basie," he offered. "They made music come out of themselves and go into you. Lady Day (Billie Holiday) made you think she was singing to you and no one else."Refusing to retire, he still plays gigs and teaches privately.Born in Victoria, his family moved to Houston when Johnson was about 9. He graduated from Yates High School. He has worked at Yates, B.T. Washington and Kashmere high schools.This celebrated band director has also had his share of challenges to overcome. He recalled that during the last four years of his time at Kashmere he could not speak above a whisper.'Jazz talks to you'"Band directors are pretty loud," Johnson said. "I had to whisper and, you know, we had a better band."Johnson said he also suffered hearing loss in one ear after a student early on in his career blew a trumpet in it.Although he got a hearing aid shortly after the incident, Johnson chose not to wear it until recently, compensating for the loss by standing next to the piano or bass to keep time. Johnson said even some musicians who played with him didn't realize that he had trouble hearing."It (hearing aid) was cumbersome. It got in my way. All these years I've had to work with my handicap," he said. "I've had this problem all the time I was teaching. I worked against the odds. I had to hear from the lowest sound to the highest and that was not easy."At tonight's gathering, the Conrad Johnson youth orchestra will perform. These students don't have to be reminded that they are representing a legend. They've been told by others he was the best saxophonist in Houston and, under his tutelage, they've developed his love for jazz."Jazz talks to you. You hear different instruments saying something," said 18-year-old Gustavo Castro, a senior at Waltrip. "It's more our style now. We be jamming to it."