Published: March 29, 2008 07:37 pm            

RODNEY BASENBURG: The pursuit of perfection

At first blush, Rodney Basenburg, the drama and choir teacher at Saint Bernard Preparatory School, might not cut the perfect picture of a music industry veteran, a man who has seen the ins and outs of several sides of the music business.

But that first impression would be wrong.

Mr. Basenburg, 52, has been teaching at Saint Bernard for the past two years after 25 years of service in public education — but that certainly isn’t all there is to him. Just behind his quiet demeanor and the self-effacing mode with which he speaks, Basenburg finely cloaks the sort of practical wisdom and wit that suggests he’s been around.

“I sang in a doo-wop group for 15 years in Birmingham called the Dip Tones,” Basenburg said when asked about his musical past. From his desk in his classroom at Saint Bernard’s Middle School in Founders Hall, he related how he learned to be at ease on stage and found out what it was like to be a performer while touring around the southeast.

At one point, he said, the Dip Tones came close to catching their big break.

“We had one moment that we almost tried to take things nationally, and we just never did,” he said, though they did put out a couple of professionally recorded albums.

As it turns out, performing with the Dip Tones is just the tip of the iceberg that is Basenburg’s musical career: To get to the good stuff, one only has to dig a little deeper.

“The biggest part of my music training would be when I sang for 25 years at the Independent Presbyterian Church in Birmingham,” said Basenburg. In Birmingham, he said, he met the most important musical influence of his life, Joe Schreiber, who directed the choir at Independent.

“He was probably the biggest impact in my life musically,” Basenburg said of his mentor, who ruled with an iron fist. “Sometimes he was like a taskmaster. Everything had to be perfection. But at the same time you learn so much, and I guess, really, I appreciate it more now that I’m behind the baton as a director.”

Part of that pursuit of perfection is what made Basenburg the musician that he is today, though he didn’t always enjoy the lessons along the way.

“I appreciate him more than I did when I was in the choir, wishing that I didn’t have to do that kind of stuff,” said Basenburg. “Most everyone was highly trained and professional. The way he could bring it all together was spectacular. The choir was probably one of the best in the United States.”

And though it was hard work, Basenburg said Mr. Schreiber and the choir in Birmingham gave him the chance to experience things he never would have otherwise.

“We went on, I think, 10 European tours,” Basenburg said. “And that was an opportunity I had never had.” Among the places Basenburg had the chance to see were England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Holland. “It was like experiences that I never could have had had I not (been in choir).”

Such a varied experience was something that contributed to Basenburg’s approach to music. By studying music, he said, people can expand their horizons however they want.

“I learned more music under him than I did at college,” Basenburg said of Schreiber. “He was fantastic and demanding as a choral director. Independent was like a professional choir, and so it was like a job.

“If you can understand the basics of classical training, you can do anything you want to,” he continued. “I encourage any child to go into music. If you learn keyboard, it can take you into any other kind of music you want to go, just about.”

And Basenburg himself lives according to that maxim. After singing for the Dip Tones and the choir at Independent Presbyterian, Basenburg happened to fall into another line of work in the music business — not counting his new gig as choir director at Saint Bernard’s.

About two years ago, he said as he watched his students study around him, he met up with a musician named David Brooks, who would lead Basenburg into a new chapter of his musical life. After becoming friends, Basenburg discovered that Brooks sings in a Christian rap and R&B outfit called DPB. Before long, Basenburg found himself managing the group.

“We became friends and it worked out great because it was just part-time,” Basenburg said of Brooks, who recently signed a record contract and has been receiving airplay on Christian radio stations. “(The single) is being played on stations that have never played hip-hop before. Like 400 country stations picked it up because it’s a great song. It’s very exciting to be involved in that. It’s kind of a dream come true.”

As he spoke about DPB, Basenburg reflected on his time with the Dip Tones, whom he said were active around the same scene as the Christian group Take 6.

“We were a little bit older,” Basenburg said after reflection. “I got really tired of performing.”

But the experience made him stronger and even now helps him as he learns the ropes as a manager.

“Being a part of the music industry, at my age, that’s where I need to be, in management,” Basenburg said.

Since Brooks signed with his record deal, things have begun to be more hectic for Basenburg, who said he’s taking everything in stride.

“Hopefully things will work out so I can do both things,” he said. “But I don’t know. Right now its working great with school.”

Working with DPB has given Basenburg a fresh outlook on music. As he spoke about Brooks, he admitted that not too long ago, he was not even a fan of hip-hop and R&B.

“Ten years ago, I would have told you that rap is not music,” he said. “I was actually angry that it was even a category at the Grammys. It took me a long time to look at it and understand it and appreciate it.”

That new appreciation led Basenburg to see the Brooks’ ingenuity, as well as the talent of many other performers.

“David has no formal music training,” Basenburg said. “But he can come up with concepts and ideas and put them into words.

“It’s remarkable. He takes contemporary beats and uses them with gospel and Christian music,” he added. “You just have to stop and realize that there are all forms of expression of music out there. Even the ones you don’t like, you can be open-minded to it and appreciate it for what it is.”

Another style of music Basenburg has learned to appreciate is country, which he previously felt was too simple.

“I have come to appreciate country music,” Basenburg said. “I was very anti-country music, (but) a lot of talent goes into it. The people are very talented, and you have to appreciate the talent.”

But even though Basenburg appreciates the talent that goes into creating all forms of music, some styles are not for him.

“There are some forms of opera I don’t like,” he said. “But I can appreciate it.”

For now, Basenburg says he’ll stick with DPB, who he said oozes talent.

“David is really talented,” Basenburg said. “He writes all his stuff.”

Later, when speaking to a talented student singer, Basenburg summed it up best.

“Overall, I think music is that little extra spice of life,” he said. “I can’t imagine having life without music.”

Before he got into management, Basenburg was a music teacher, a job he still holds at Saint Bernard. As he conversed with Nidia Riley, a senior at Saint Bernard, about the merits of music, it became apparent this is the job he does best — possibly even the work he loves most.

After delivering a monologue about the joys of music, Basenburg decided to make it a dialogue, calling Riley over for her opinion. What would life be like without music, he asked her. Riley, who plans to major in music at Montevallo in the fall, shared her teacher’s impressions.

“I think it would be a little bit boring,” Riley said. “It adds some pizzazz to my day, or anything really. I go into my room and listen to music. I’ll sing in the shower. Music is a lot of what I do.”

Riley, Basenburg’s principal soloist, said she likes everything from salsa to country to rock. Her enthusiasm for the music is something Basenburg seems to get across to all his students, most likely because of his laid back approach to teaching.

“I’m not a taskmaster,” Basenburg said when discussing the differences between himself and Schreiber. “(The students) relate to me. And that has its plusses and minuses. But I think the plusses outweigh the minuses.”

Basenburg added many teachers fail to remember what it was like to be a kid — missing a chance to connect to the students in the process.

“So many teachers out there have forgotten that they were kids one time too,” Basenburg said. “And the things that they do are teenager stuff. There are things that kids go through that you have to just get through. You know, you can’t pick at every little thing. Why not try talking to them a couple of times? And then the third time send them out.”

Though his discipline methods may be unconventional, Basenburg said he and his colleagues get along well at school.

“Everything here is kind of like a community effort,” he said. “From the monastery to the staff to the students to administrators — to everybody. In a small school everybody is representative of every aspect of the school, to make sure it’s successful.”

Since he started at Saint Bernard two years ago, Basenburg has brought some new programs to the fine arts curriculum, including his “Nine Lessons and Carols,” a program he started last fall. In April, the school plans to hold a festival of arts and a performance of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

“We’ve invited local schools to come participate,” Basenburg said of the festival of arts, which will also display art and relics from the campus. “We’ll have a talent show and we’re going to have some guest speakers and musicians. It will be a week-long event right before the Blooming Festival.”

For the production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” Basenburg will rely on Saint Bernard’s newest teacher, Lester Harris, who joined the school in January.

“Mr. Harris is going to do the instrumentation of it,” said Basenburg, who will arrange the drama and vocal parts.

The addition of Harris to Saint Bernard’s staff came as a relief to Basenburg, who said Harris will bring his own areas of expertise.

“It’s great that we got to add a second person,” he said. “We want to grow. That’s my goal — to see Saint Bernard become known for music and fine arts as well as for its academics, which it’s known for now.

“My main focus is school and to get behind the program, and I think eventually the fine arts program is going to be great.”

Part of the fine arts program’s road to success, Basenburg said, is specialization of the teachers. Before, Basenburg had been tasked with running the school’s band program, a position with which he was uncomfortable.

“I didn’t have the background in it,” he said. “I just wasn’t that comfortable with it. I’m just so glad that (Mr. Harris) is here, because he’s remarkable.”

As it stands now, Basenburg’s choir program has about 35 students, mostly high schoolers, and a mass choir that Basenburg auditions. For a man that graduated with the last collegiate class at Saint Bernard, that should sound like progress. But Basenburg said real progress means successful fine arts programs all over the county.

“Only four schools in the county have choir programs and its a shame because music is an outlet, it’s an art,” said Basenburg.

And though he likes sports, Basenburg said he always has a word of advice for students looking for an extra-curricular activity.

“I tell the students when you’re 40 years old, chances are real high you won’t be playing basketball. So you can balance your life out with stuff that you’re going to do for a long time.”

        

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