Led by award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Alex Weiss, Different Drum bridges the sounds of Africa & the Americas. Playful Calypsos, beautiful Brazilian Sambas and Funky South African Township music are some of the fabric that holds this band together.
Since 1992 Different Drum has been performing at festivals, public/private schools, and universities from Georgetown, South Carolina to Charlotte, North Carolina. This versatile ensemble is available through the North Carolina Arts Council Touring Directory and the Arts Council for Fayetteville and Cumberland County for educational performances and residencies in the schools. Different Drum's 2006 performances include Greenville(SC) International Festival, Fayetteville International Folk Festival, Jacksonville Spring Family Fun Day, NC Turkey Festival (Raeford, NC), Duke Gardens Summer Concert Series (Durham, NC) and numerous schools throughout the state. Alex Weiss & Different Drum also book weddings and private parties. For more info visit our Web: www.differentdrum.us

reviews:

A musical menagerie surrounds Alex Weiss whenever he's on stage. Cornet, recorders, harmonicas and drums. Lots of drums. In fact. Weiss plays virtually any percussion instruments you can name - from conga to cow bell, shekere to djembe.
Despite his versatility, however, I would hesitate to call the Durham musician a virtuoso. Whether blowing or banging, he seldom startles you with his prowess on any instrument.
And that's what I love about Weiss... Weiss not merely plays these instruments, he inhabits them. The cornet becomes the sound of his breathing. The drum is his heart beat.
You can hear Weiss' heart pumping away on his CD, Changes In A Dream. Funded by a grant from from the N.C. Arts Council, Changes In A Dream is hyphenated originals: Part jazz, part folk, and part world music.
Beyond catagory, what they are is 100 percent Weiss: acoustic and organic, without a spec of bullshit...
Joe vanderford, Independent Weekly June 1995


“Different Drum is exactly that” This is not your run of the mill jazz ensemble. There is something almost primitive in these works, calling forth that being inside us that wants to leap and dance. The many subtle and not-so-subtle rhythms that the group incorporates add more than simply another dimension to the music; they add a magnetic, hypnotic siren song that invites the listener into the music.”
Alan Hall, Chapel Hill Herald