HOUSTON -- It has been 30 years since a few dozen teenagers first took to the stage at Kashmere High School under the direction of a Houston legend. They honored him on Friday -- two days before his unexpected death, KPRC Local 2, Your Education Station, reported.

"Prof," they yelled at the man seated front and center at Kashmere High.

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Video: Music Legend Leaves Behind Legacy:
Mary Benton Reports

Video: Conrad O. Johnson Dies:
Rachel McNeill Reports

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Conrad O. Johnson directed Kashmere's award-winning stage band in the late '60s through the '70s.

"He poured his life and soul into us and I'm grateful to him," said Clifford Johnson, who was a bass guitarist in the stage band from 1974-1976.

Johnson pointed to himself on an album cover when the Kashmere band toured Okinawa, Japan. They were unbeatable in state and national competitions.

These recordings have been re-introduced in the music world by producer Ethan Alipatt from Stones Throw and Now and Again labels.

"I researched today's great rhythms to this very stage and the Kashmere Stage Band," said Alipatt who pumped up the audience at an afternoon tribute to Johnson in the school's auditorium.

Also in attendance -- Mark Landsman with Snoot Productions out of Los Angeles. His crew brought in complete sound and video equipment in an ongoing project to produce a documentary on 92-year-old Johnson.

Kashmere students were thrilled to be a part of the taping, especially Kashmere's current stage band that warmed up the audience.

"I want to show everybody what Kashmere can still do," said David Brown Jr., who played the keyboards since he was 4 years old.

"It's given me opportunities to do things and go places that I would not have been able to do," said the ninth-grader.

Brown said current band director, Adran Tyler, pushes them hard, "Sometimes we play one song for an hour. He pushes us to do better and better."

"Music is their release," said Tyler in his first year at Kashmere.

The Prairie View A&M graduate said he is honored to sit at the same desk as his idol, Conrad Johnson. "He made something out of every man and woman who played in the stage band," he said.

Among the group of musicians reunited for the Conrad Johnson tributes, there is a doctor, a pharmacist, teachers, salesmen and a gifted metal fabricator.

Most of them have never put down their instruments and continue to play in churches or other paid venues.

"It means I must have done my job and it's appreciated, " Johnson said, his silvery hair pulled back in a hip ponytail.

"The music we play and we have played is part of our every day living. I want it to continue to be part of our daily lives," he said to reporters crouched around his wheelchair.

Johnson was just released from the hospital after a brief illness, but wanted to be at Kashmere to see his students from the '70s perform once again.

"This would be the highlight of my entire career," he said.

Johnson emphasized the importance of music programs in public schools because of the positive effects on young people when so much negative prevails.

On Saturday night, the '70s award-winning Kashmere Stage Band played at another gala, a benefit for the Conrad O. Johnson Music & Fine Arts Foundation.

Johnson passed away at his son's home on Sunday evening. Funeral arrangements are pending.