Kashmere Kashmere Stage Band

The best high school band of all time! Two discs of '60s and '70s funk, containing rare studio recordings and unreleased live cuts from Houston's Kashmere High School Stage Band directed by Conrad O. Johnson. Monster drum breaks, as heard on Funky 16 Corners and Cold Heat comps, including songs sampled by DJ Shadow and more.

The Funky 16 Corners is a 2001 compilation album released by Stones Throw Records, consisting of very rare soul and funk. This comes from a promotional CD which was not packaged with a full booklet.

The Funky 16 Corners Review by Nic Kincaid
This outstanding collection of funk singles compiled by Stones Throw Records includes 16 songs recorded between 1968 and 1974 by obscure underground groups from America. One of the strongest crossover funk labels of the last decade, Stones Throw pays due respect to modern music's forgotten grandfathers on this most grooving recorded history lesson of impeccable quality. Anchored by the Highlighters' classic "The Funky 16 Corners," whereby the Indianapolis group upped the ante in 1969's craze for bands counting "corners" (read: hit me three times!) by breaking the recorded benchmark with 16, this compilation leans heavily on the James Brown sect and celebrates the lesser-known groups of the genre, who with high talent and low budget put to tape some of the most raw funk ever captured to date. Representative modernist Cut Chemist of Jurassic 5 even gets an interpretation slot with "Bunky's Pick" on one of two bonus tracks. Every track is essential to the record and every groove a lost gem. An informative 16-page booklet with full-color photos is included.

Award-winning producer and artist, Danger Mouse, has curated the soundtrack for Edgar Wright's highly anticipated film, Baby Driver. The soundtrack for the music-heavy film, titled Music From The Motion Picture Baby Driver, boasts 30 multi-genre tunes in total, including rare tracks and deep cuts, as well as one original song created by Danger Mouse specifically for Baby Driver. The new song is "Chase Me", by Danger Mouse featuring Run The Jewels and Big Boi. The film is written and directed by Edgar Wright.

That one of the great Spiritual Jazz albums of the era could be found in duplicate New Orleans thrift store in the 1980s goes a long way in illustrating the lack of acclaim this special and overlooked album maintained, even in a city where the Batiste name is musical royalty. The Southern University albums Alvin Batiste offered the world were novelies, not worthy of serious consideration, a moment captured, but not necessarily worthy of being collected or preserved by anyone not immediately involved in its creation. That changes now. With the release of the two Southern University albums, Now-Again continues a conversation begun with the late Kashmere Stage Band director Conrad O. Johnson and the issue of his high school students’ music as 'Texas Thunder Soul,' and the continued belief that beautiful music created by youth – even under the most adverse circumstances – can always inspire us.