Wednesday, July 17, 2019
News 12 This Morning
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) — A local program is giving kids an outlet while shaping them into musicians.
The kids may be young, but they’ve got a whole lot of soul.
“You start dancing, any instrument you’re playing, I don’t care if you’re using every single part of your body playing it you’re going to dance to the music,” said drummer Nicholas Turmon. He’s just one of the kids involved in the James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils, or J.A.M.P.
J.A.M.P. is a year-round program that helps Augusta’s youth to get in touch with their musical talents.
Mystro Daniel Sapp works with 15 to 20 of these students each year.
“These kids start from scratch from the drums, keyboard, whatever instrument we put them on and they are dedicated to learning it so, they’ll do good,” Sapp said.
Davidson student, Daniel Marks practices 8 to 10 hours a week to perfect his craft.
“It’s definitely improved my ability to play within a group and improvise and be able to actually come up with my own parts for the music.”
Nicholas Turmon tells News 12 he’s seen his own growth throughout his time with the program.
“I couldn’t play funk music. I could barely play the drums, but when I started coming regularly I started learning new songs, and learning new beats every day. It made me a better musician,” said Turmon.
Their hard work is paying off. They’ve opened for George Clinton and former pop legend, Prince. Not only that but, they’ve met and been mentored by Kirk Franklin and Evelyn Braxton.
It’s safe to say these kids don’t plan on putting their instruments down anytime soon.
If you are interested in the J.A.M.P program please visit jamesbrownfdn.org or check out their Facebook page, James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils.
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