Amy Jackson
Amy’s passion for drumming began at the age of 10. After years of playing on various percussive instruments, the djembe is the instrument that really spoke to her heart in 2002. She has been playing the djembe ever since.
Amy is a Certified Associate Instructor with Tam Tam Mandingue Winston-Salem. Founded by TTM Professor Bill Scheidt, TTM W-S is the 17th school of initiated master drummer, Mamady Keita’s international network of djembe schools, whose mission is to preserve and teach the traditional rhythms of the Mandingue, as a tool to promote tolerance, understanding, equality and international peace.
Since 2003, she has been active in the all women’s percussion group, ConunDrums, which performs for events and festivals around the Atlanta area, and she currently serves as the group’s musical director.
Tying in with her 30 year career as a nurse, Amy became interested in the benefits of drumming as a tool for health and wellness. Amy is a trained facilitator of HealthRHYTHMS™, a group rhythm program which has been shown in scientific studies to strengthen the immune system and reduce stress. Drumming has also been used in the treatment of depression, and anger management and has been shown to be a powerful mode of experiential therapy in working with troubled children and adolscents. Amy is currently in a training program with Tom Harris, Director of Therapeutic Drumming at Youth Villages’ Inner Harbour campus to learn to apply her skills as a drumming facilitator in behavioral health settings.
Because different types of groups have different needs, Amy has studied other approaches to drum circle facilitation Kalani of Drum Circle Music™
and Arthur Hull of Village Music Circles™. She is a team member with Jana Broder's Drum Magic™ and has worked as a guest facilitator with John Scalici of Get Rhythm™, Dave Holland of Beatin' Path™ and Scott Swimmers’ drumSTRONG™.
To further her studies of the djembe, Amy joined a group of dedicated, passionate, and professional drummers that play traditional West African music, called Ten Blocks Away. TBA has been performing for enthusiastic crowds in Atlanta and West Georgia since 2006.
Amy’s study of the djembe is never ending and she wishes to thank the many teachers who have helped her to grow as a person, a student, a musician, and as a teacher. These include initiated masters from Guinea, West Africa, Mamady Keita and Famoudou Konate, Guinean artists Aly Camara, Fode Camara and Mohamed DaCosta, and locally in Atlanta, her bandmates Chuck Cogliandro and Colleen Caffrey!