Bandman is music to students' ears
Dallas: Well-noted teacher shapes their love of instrumental sounds
12:00 AM CST on Friday, January 20, 2006
By ALLISON WISK / The Dallas Morning News

Onstage in the Adams Elementary auditorium, music teacher Art Osborne is relaxed and ready in his home away from home. Mr. Osborne ˆ known as Mr. Bandman ˆ tests brass and wind instruments before the eager hands of fifth- and sixth-graders pounce on them.



Students find Adams Elementary music teacher Art Osborne down-to-earth and fun. His television series, Adventures With Mr. Bandman, is shown weekly in Dallas on Comcast's Channel 67 and daily in Fort Worth on Charter's Channel 30. Dozens of students in red T-shirts silkscreened to mirror their teacher's performance regalia assemble in rows, exchanging banter and light-hearted insults.

"All right, y'all. The only person who's allowed to goof off here is me," says Mr. Osborne with a wink as he greases a trombone.

As practice begins, everyone is trying to concentrate, and not a muffled complaint is heard from the young musicians.

Having recently been honored with a Save the Music grant from the VH1 television network, Adams Elementary boasts the largest group of students in Mr. Osborne's band classes, also taught at Gooch and Cabell elementary schools in North Dallas.

Seeing a need for innovative teaching tools, Mr. Osborne developed the TV series Adventures With Mr. Bandman, which has catapulted him to stardom among his students. They revere the North Dallas resident as a hero, pop-culture icon and down-to-earth educator who's shaped their love of instrumental music.

"I think Mr. Bandman shows great sportsmanship," said student DeAndré Brooks. "He's, like, the kind of person you would want to hang with as an adult. He's pretty fun."

Mr. Osborne hails from a family steeped in music. His mother's cousin was Vaughn Monroe, who sang with some of the top Big Bands, like the Glenn Miller Band. His father was a trumpet player and his brother John Osborne plays Trombone and is the musical conductor for the Dallas Summer Musicals

While attending the University of North Texas, Mr. Osborne scuttled around the lower half of the U.S. as a studio musician and musical contractor. In his 20s, he began a longtime involvement in the horn and string sections of tours that included Motown greats the Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, the Four Tops and Gladys Knight. He later worked as a conductor for B. J. Thomas.

A career turning point came in 1973, when Mr. Osborne worked with Bob Keeshan, better known as Captain Kangaroo. Under Mr. Keeshan's direction, he acted as resident composer for a few children's TV shows funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

His work there inspired him to create his own educational TV show when he arrived at the Dallas school district in 1999. Surrounded by those who would become his audience, Mr. Osborne crafted an idea for a useful music education program.

"I'm 58 years old," he said. "At some point in your life you better start turning around and giving back."

A makeshift studio occupies the North Dallas home he shares with his wife, Kathy.

Posters diagramming the function of clarinets and trumpets adorn a wall, partially obscured by the shoulder pads of Mr. Bandman's costume.

"Ed, hand me my tooter," said Mr. Osborne, motioning to a long, skinny ceremonial trumpet resting in a corner of the room. Ed Herider, Mr. Osborne's longtime friend and videographer for the show, passes the instrument.

The songs are often reconstructed with kid-friendly lyrics, giving old tunes a new warmth.

The show is broadcast weekly in Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas (on Comcast 67) and daily in Fort Worth (on Charter 30).

"It just makes my heart just do a backstroke when I'm walking down the halls, and there will be a class going to recess or to lunch or something and the kids are supposed to be really quiet and they'll say, 'Hi, Mr. Bandman!' " he said in a mock hushed voice. "And I'll say, 'Now, use your inside voice!' "

E-mail awisk@dallasnews.com