Atlanta Drum Academy is hotter than August in the South

In the meantime, members of the young drumline show off their own dance moves: the bass drummers swing their instruments in the air while the snare drummers throw down shuffle steps and the cymbal players twirl their discs, crouch and snap their heads to the left and right.

At the end of the show, staged outside the multi-use development The Interlock in West Midtown, Nicole Morrison, a health care worker from Morrow, jumps into the group to pose with her 13-year-old son and drumline member Aydin Rudley, then she borrows his quad tenor drums to try them out.

“Amazing,” she said of the performance. The Interlock gig “gave the kids the time to hang out together and enjoy a little band family time. And also a chance to get the drumline out there.”

Credit: Ben Gray

Credit: Ben Gray

This drumline is on a roll. They’ve entertained at Atlanta Dream and Braves games, they’ve performed with R&B star Usher, appeared on Steve Harvey’s “Little Big Shots” and twice played for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

Their activities crescendoed with an appearance this spring on “America’s Got Talent,” during which their high-energy act won them a golden buzzer from host Terry Crews.

That confetti shower guaranteed a return trip to California for the semifinals of the televised talent contest, which will take place at the end of August.

It’s a great time to be a little drummer boy or girl in Atlanta.

The squad is the brainchild of James W. Riles III, 44, who grew up in South Georgia and whose parents gave him a drum set when he was 5 years old. (Only very brave parents decide to share their mobile home with a 5-year-old and a drum set.)

“Whenever we’d have family come over, my dad would always make me perform,” said Riles. “They had the vision.”

Riles won a band scholarship to attend Morris Brown College, where he became captain of the drumline. He also appeared in and created some of the music for the 2002 movie “Drumline,” a film about the dynamic culture of drum performance at Black colleges, which was filmed partly at Morris Brown.

After teaching in Clayton County schools for a decade or so, Riles created the Atlanta Drum Academy in 2011. In 2020 opened it up to players as young as 3. During the pandemic he had to teach online only. Somehow he made it work.

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

One of those online students was Chioma Narcisse-Williams, an outsized talent in a small package. When his parents realized that the 5-year-old drummer was watching Coach Riles on YouTube and learning cadences on his own, they decided it was time to enroll Chioma in the academy.

Today Chioma, age 9, posts musical videos online, has 15,000 followers on Instagram and several movie credits. The scouts from “America’s Got Talent” discovered Chioma (maybe from a repost by fellow percussionist Sheila E.) and encouraged him to try out. He insisted that he wanted to bring his academy family along.

“Onstage he’s shy, he’s a nervous little child,” said his mother Ayanna Narcisse-Williams, “but when his squad comes with him, he turns into a superhuman, like Transformers!”

Riles believes drumming can transform young lives by teaching them discipline, leadership and cooperation. It also keeps young people occupied. “Every time you see 50 kids at drum practice, that’s 50 kids that are not breaking into houses and stealing stuff,” he said.

He is assisted by Bernard Smith, an educator and the director of the 10-man percussion ensemble the Heavy Hitters, who perform at Braves games. Smith said, “I kind of prefer working with the kids more than with the pros. The pros think they already know everything.”

Credit: Ben Gray

Credit: Ben Gray

Smith likes the idea of getting very young students into music, “putting sticks in their hands” before they’ve already become committed to playing football or baseball or basketball.

He also wants the kids who play drums to get a little extra attention, since they‘re the ones who are shunted to the back of the band and told to keep it down at home. “The percussion rarely gets the attention they need, and the Atlanta Drum Academy is trying to change the script on that,” he said. “You can have a drumline without the band, but you sure can’t have a band without a drumline.”

Bass drummer Xavier Wright, age 10, certainly appreciates the eminence of the beat. “He gravitated to the drums as soon as he could crawl,” said his father Leon Wright, watching the ensemble warm up in The Interlock parking garage. “These boys and girls, they play with enthusiasm,” said the father, “they play with heart and they play to have fun.”

At the televised competition, the performance wowed the judges with their gymnastic moves and snappy transitions. Even the normally dyspeptic Simon Cowell was impressed. After the Atlanta group won raves from the other judges, Cowell commented, “Well, I didn’t like it.” Audience members booed. Then Cowell amended, “I absolutely loved it.” Cheers.

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

“Coach Riles is clearly a creative genius,” said Narcisse-Williams. “He’s very humble, he would never speak about himself like that, but I tell him that all the time.”

The group practices at a Riverdale martial arts studio on weekends when the space is available, running through cadences with names like Angry Birds, Potato, Kirby, Eye of the Drummer and a tricky 7/8 pattern called Septum.

During the month of August they’ve been practicing three days a week, creating and rehearsing a new show for the AGT judges.

Bernard Smith said the Atlanta ensemble has a good chance of winning the big prize on “America’s Got Talent.” “I feel good about my group,” he said. “The kids have the energy and talent. I think we can pull it off.”

WHERE TO WATCH

”America’s Got Talent”

Live shows from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22. Results shows will air 8-9 p.m. Wednesday nights. Locally on 11Alive (WXIA-TV) in Atlanta. nbc.com/americas-got-talent