BOSSIP not too long ago sat down with the founders of Atlanta’s powerhouse HBCU‑type marching ensemble to uncover the guts 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 dedication fills rooms and outside fields. That is no informal summer season passion—it’s a critical house for critical expertise. What has now turn into a legacy began with simply 4 HBCU pals who merely needed to maintain taking part in.
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“All of us went to Jackson State, and needed 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 season ensemble for pals.
“We bought it out the mud, to be sincere, to construct up a product that folks actually needed,” 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.
“Folks can’t get sufficient of it and it’s a lovely factor,” Kris added. “We began with 15 folks—our pals—as a result of they needed to play over the summer season.”
Now practically a decade later, the Georgia Mass Band (GAMB) has turn into a revered blueprint for the way group, sound, and construction can meet to serve the following technology.
Filling the Summer time Hole
Whereas many conventional faculty band packages break for summer season, GAMB stays energetic, giving college students continued construction and efficiency alternatives.
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“As a highschool director, this can be a big function as a result of it’s a method 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 related to a faculty or sport protocols,” Kris defined. “GAMB music is broader—extra entry to quite a lot 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 possibly can’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 if you’re younger and your thoughts remains to be moldable.”
For college students who didn’t develop up seeing Black musicians on the forefront of large-scale productions, GAMB affords greater than illustration—it affords risk.
“Being a highschool band director as effectively—it’s actually huge to see somebody who began off solely becoming a member of band as a result of their pals had been in it… now they are saying they need to main in music and be a band director due to GAMB,” mentioned Marcus.
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Visible Excellence: The Refined Jewels
If the sound of Georgia Mass Band strikes you, The Refined Jewels ensure you really feel it. The dynamic dance ensemble brings extra than simply type to the sphere—they ship stamina and critical technical talent.
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Led by a workforce of 4 coaches—together with head coach Shontavia D. James and assistant coach Travaris Cooper—the Refined Jewels are greater than only a dance workforce. They’re an announcement of sophistication, technical precision, and cultural energy.
Cooper, who started dancing with GAMB in 2019 earlier than transferring 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 situations and strategies. I’d relatively sit on the facet and produce the imaginative and prescient to life than really 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 dependent upon the efficiency,” Cooper shared. “For ‘Meet the Georgia Mass Band,’ it’s horny 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 workforce’s members are adults, lots of whom are HBCU-trained dancers from throughout the SWAC.
“We have now women from Alcorn, Jackson State, Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Fort Valley, Texas Southern,” Cooper mentioned. “We convey all of those dynamic types 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.
“In the event you don’t have these strategies, we will’t use you,” he said bluntly. “We’re speaking ballet fundamentals—pirouettes, calypsos, leaps in first and second. That’s the bottom of this holy grail kind of factor.”
Their uniforms—glossy leotards, two-piece units, and standout equipment—are a results of collaborative creativity.
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“We have 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 convey it to life.”
However what really 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 workforce’s behind-the-scenes content material collection, “The Actual Dancers of Summer time Band,” as a approach to share the grit and glamour. However for him, probably 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. Folks had been nervous, however I had religion. Every little thing I had been yelling about since April—it lastly clicked.”
That opening efficiency didn’t simply validate months of arduous work—it set the tone for every part to observe. Because the season unfolds, The Refined Jewels proceed to boost the bar, embodying self-discipline, magnificence, and unapologetic Black excellence with each depend.
For Cooper, it’s greater than choreography—it’s legacy-building.
“We don’t simply carry out—we symbolize one thing greater,” 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 truthful that connects Metro Atlanta college students with HBCU band administrators—lots of whom supply scholarships on the spot.
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“Each February, we host an annual faculty truthful to convey HBCU band administrators for college kids to audition without spending a dime to realize 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—all of the sudden turns into tangible.
“We’ve watched the children develop into part leaders in HBCUs,” Buggs added.
GAMB connects younger musicians with working professionals, the steerage they obtain displays each excessive requirements and real-world expertise.
AUC Roots and Group Attain
GAMB can also be intentional about amplifying native packages—particularly the underrepresented ones. With many Atlanta College Heart (AUC) bands being smaller and under-resourced, the founders famous that it was necessary to open up entry to administrators and audition alternatives.
Their group attain isn’t nearly who will get to play.
“Yearly we replenish a U-Haul truck with water and move out water to varsities who’re having band practices. It’s not an official factor—we in all probability ought to make it that method—however we similar to to provide again,” Kris mentioned.
Marcus emphasised the significance of long-term help. To this point, the GAMB makes use of assistance from volunteers and a number of services to deal with rehearsals for follow.
“We’re in search of sponsors, a facility, and long-term help.” Buggs added, “A constant follow house could be good.”
Fundamental Stage Moments
GAMB’s attain isn’t restricted to high school stadiums and faculty festivals. Their sound has traveled far sufficient to be a magnet for main artists throughout hip-hop and popular culture.
“At some point, I bought a random name from French Montana saying, ‘Yo, I need 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 workforce noticed our stuff on-line and needed 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 heart.
The checklist 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 displaying 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 season is stacked.
“We’re going through 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 season, so we’d like all of the help,” Marcus emphasised.
The purpose is development—not simply in numbers, however in impression.
“Hopefully we ought 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.
Assist the Motion
For updates, performances, and faculty truthful bulletins, observe Georgia Mass Band on social media:
@GeorgiaMassBand on Instagram
@sophisticatedjewels on Instagram
Go to GAMassBand.org to be taught extra or get entangled.
