BOSSIP lately sat down with the founders of Atlanta’s powerhouse HBCU‑type marching ensemble to uncover the center and hustle behind one of many metropolis’s most awe‑inspiring musical collectives.
On heat evenings within the metropolis, the Georgia Mass Band is locked in. College students clutch sheet music, some scan PDFs on telephones, others pay attention again to tracks by means of earbuds. The hum of willpower fills rooms and outside fields. That is no informal summer time pastime—it’s a critical area for critical expertise. What has now change into a legacy began with simply 4 HBCU associates who merely wished to maintain enjoying.
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“All of us went to Jackson State, and wished one thing to do in Georgia,” mentioned co-founder Matthew Buggs. “Kris and I had been roommates. Marcus and Antonio had been roommates.”
In 2016, the group—Buggs, Kris, Marcus Cummings, and Antonio D. Alexander—created a small summer time ensemble for associates.
“We acquired it out the mud, to be trustworthy, to construct up a product that individuals actually wished,” Kris shared.
That product? A nonprofit mass band made up of highschool, faculty, and alumni musicians from throughout the state, dedicated to coaching, performing, and preserving HBCU music tradition.
“Individuals can’t get sufficient of it and it’s a fantastic factor,” Kris added. “We began with 15 folks—our associates—as a result of they wished to play over the summer time.”
Now practically a decade later, the Georgia Mass Band (GAMB) has change into a revered blueprint for the way neighborhood, sound, and construction can meet to serve the subsequent technology.
Filling the Summer season Hole
Whereas many conventional college band applications break for summer time, GAMB stays lively, giving college students continued construction and efficiency alternatives.
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“As a highschool director, this can be a enormous function as a result of it’s a manner for them to attach at jamborees and different experiences,” Buggs mentioned.
That construction is greater than music. Inside GAMB rehearsals, college students handle their very own prep—using digital sheet music, coordinating with part leaders, and adjusting preparations in actual time. The educational is collaborative, trendy, and deeply intentional.
“We don’t have the identical stipulations comparable to a college or sport protocols,” Kris defined. “GAMB music is broader—extra entry to a wide range of preparations.”
Constructed on HBCU band tradition, GAMB carries ahead the vitality, sound, and pageantry many college students hope to expertise in faculty—however with a twist.
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“Environment. Enjoyable expertise. You may’t usually get this action-packed sound outdoors of an HBCU,” Kris mentioned.
Buggs summed it up in 4 phrases: “Sound. Cleanliness. Execution. Range.” However, it’s not simply what they play—it’s who sees them.
“It provides the scholars one thing to do,” Kris added. “There isn’t a scarcity in having one thing to do whenever you’re younger and your thoughts continues to be moldable.”
For college students who didn’t develop up seeing Black musicians on the forefront of large-scale productions, GAMB gives greater than illustration—it gives risk.
“Being a highschool band director as effectively—it’s actually large to see somebody who began off solely becoming a member of band as a result of their associates had been in it… now they are saying they wish to main in music and be a band director due to GAMB,” mentioned Marcus.
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Visible Excellence: The Subtle Jewels
If the sound of Georgia Mass Band strikes you, The Subtle Jewels be sure you really feel it. The dynamic dance ensemble brings extra than simply type to the sector—they ship stamina and critical technical talent.
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Led by a staff of 4 coaches—together with head coach Shontavia D. James and assistant coach Travaris Cooper—the Subtle Jewels are greater than only a dance staff. They’re a press release of sophistication, technical precision, and cultural energy.
Cooper, who started dancing with GAMB in 2019 earlier than shifting into his teaching function, defined the evolution firsthand:
“Again once I was dancing, we weren’t doing all of the stuff they doing—like flipping out of chairs, backflipping into splits. It was simply 1-2-3-4,” he mentioned. “Now it’s every kind of eventualities and strategies. I’d quite sit on the aspect and convey the imaginative and prescient to life than truly be the imaginative and prescient.”
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When requested what vitality they bring about to GAMB, Cooper explains that the imaginative and prescient is rooted in versatility.
“It is determined by the efficiency,” Cooper shared. “For ‘Meet the Georgia Mass Band,’ it’s attractive and stylish—fluidity. These are grown ladies and grown males. However after we’re battling, it’s aggressive. It’s intense. It’s sassy. It’s organized chaos.”
The staff’s members are adults, a lot of whom are HBCU-trained dancers from throughout the SWAC.
“We’ve ladies from Alcorn, Jackson State, Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Fort Valley, Texas Southern,” Cooper mentioned. “We carry all of those dynamic kinds collectively to make one. That’s what makes us particular.”
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Past the type and stamina, there’s an elite technical basis required to even audition.
“For those who don’t have these methods, we are able to’t use you,” he acknowledged bluntly. “We’re speaking ballet fundamentals—pirouettes, calypsos, leaps in first and second. That’s the bottom of this holy grail sort of factor.”
Their uniforms—smooth leotards, two-piece units, and standout equipment—are a results of collaborative creativity.
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“We take a look at the stuff Beyoncé wears on her excursions. We would take a high from one look and a backside from one other and piece it collectively,” mentioned Cooper. “All 4 of us throw in concepts, and we carry it to life.”
However what actually units the Jewels aside is the bond and construction.
“These are adults,” Cooper emphasised. “They’ve labored all day, then come to bop from 6:30 to 9. We maintain one another accountable. We’ve constructed lifelong relationships right here.”
He described the staff’s behind-the-scenes content material sequence, “The Actual Dancers of Summer season Band,” as a solution to share the grit and glamour. However for him, essentially the most highly effective second this season got here throughout their very first present:
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“‘Meet the Georgia Mass Band’ was our first efficiency. Individuals had been nervous, however I had religion. The whole lot I had been yelling about since April—it lastly clicked.”
That opening efficiency didn’t simply validate months of laborious work—it set the tone for every little thing to comply with. Because the season unfolds, The Subtle Jewels proceed to boost the bar, embodying self-discipline, magnificence, and unapologetic Black excellence with each rely.
For Cooper, it’s greater than choreography—it’s legacy-building.
“We don’t simply carry out—we characterize one thing larger,” he mentioned. “And when all of it comes collectively, you may really feel it.”
Entry That Modifications Lives
Each February, GAMB hosts a music-focused faculty honest that connects Metro Atlanta college students with HBCU band administrators—a lot of whom provide scholarships on the spot.
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“Each February, we host an annual faculty honest to carry HBCU band administrators for college students to audition free of charge to achieve scholarships,” Kris mentioned.
For Kris, the mission is private.
“I needed to drive 6 hours to Jackson to audition—so I want I had one thing like this,” he shared.
The suggestions from households has been constant: gratitude. College students who could not have the means to journey for auditions now have the chance to showcase their skills in their very own metropolis. What as soon as felt distant—faculty, scholarships, musical careers—out of the blue turns into tangible.
“We’ve watched the youngsters develop into part leaders in HBCUs,” Buggs added.
GAMB connects younger musicians with working professionals, the steering they obtain displays each excessive requirements and real-world expertise.
AUC Roots and Group Attain
GAMB can be intentional about amplifying native applications—particularly the underrepresented ones. With many Atlanta College Middle (AUC) bands being smaller and under-resourced, the founders famous that it was essential to open up entry to administrators and audition alternatives.
Their neighborhood attain isn’t nearly who will get to play.
“Yearly we replenish a U-Haul truck with water and cross out water to varsities who’re having band practices. It’s not an official factor—we in all probability ought to make it that manner—however we similar to to present again,” Kris mentioned.
Marcus emphasised the significance of long-term help. To this point, the GAMB makes use of the help of volunteers and a number of services to accommodate rehearsals for follow.
“We’re in search of sponsors, a facility, and long-term help.” Buggs added, “A constant follow area could be good.”
Principal Stage Moments
GAMB’s attain isn’t restricted to highschool stadiums and faculty festivals. Their sound has traveled far sufficient to be a focus for main artists throughout hip-hop and popular culture.
“At some point, I acquired a random name from French Montana saying, ‘Yo, I wish to work,’” Buggs recalled.
The band ended up performing in French’s I Can’t Lie music video that includes Kodak Black, merging HBCU-style showmanship with mainstream visuals.
Kris added, “21 Savage’s staff noticed our stuff on-line and wished to work!”
That collaboration led to GAMB being featured in Savage’s Amazon Music efficiency in Atlanta—one other nationwide highlight second that put the band’s choreography, instrumentation, and self-discipline entrance and middle.
The record doesn’t cease there. GAMB has additionally carried out on the Atlanta Dream’s WNBA video games, collaborated with Southern College alumni, and constructed a social presence that continues to draw manufacturers and artists alike.
For college students, these aren’t simply one-off gigs—they’re real-world alternatives. Whether or not backing up platinum-selling rappers or exhibiting out in a stadium, GAMB trains younger musicians to deal with strain, hit marks, and transfer as a unit. The stage could change, however the usual by no means does.
Up Subsequent: A Sound That’s Nonetheless Evolving
The band’s schedule this summer time is stacked.
“We’re dealing with Memphis Mass Band this Saturday, and Mississippi All-Stars at Southern Crest on June 28,” Buggs mentioned.
For these attending a GAMB efficiency for the primary time, anticipate crowd engagement, showmanship, and a dedication to musical precision that rivals halftime on the Basic.
“We’re prepared to maneuver previous simply the summer time, so we want all of the help,” Marcus emphasised.
The objective is development—not simply in numbers, however in influence.
“Hopefully we needs to be getting flown out to go and play on the White Home, or one thing higher echelon,” mentioned assistant dance coach Travaris Cooper.
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Legacy in Motion
What resonates most from talking to the founders isn’t simply what they constructed—it’s why they constructed it.
Help the Motion
For updates, performances, and faculty honest bulletins, comply with Georgia Mass Band on social media:
