A Profile of Alex Weiss.

     “You’ve got to have a vision. You need to know where your music fits, and why you’re doing it”, so says Alex Weiss when asked for advice regarding the music industry and how to succeed in it. The award-winning composer and Durham resident has been exploring and redefining his musical vision for nearly forty years, all the while maintaining a unified blend of global rhythms and melodies. According to Alex’s website www.differentdrum.us  his main band, Different Drum, is a versatile Afro/Latin ensemble, with musical styles including South African township, traditional West African rhythms, folkloric Andean melodies, soulful Cuban guajira's, cumbia, merengue, and much more. And considering the early childhood exposure to international culture Alex experienced growing up in Queens, it’s not surprising that his musical creations reflect his upbringing and keen passion for ethnic understanding. “Some of my best friends were Cuban, Irish, Italian, African American. I loved the diversity.” Even his favorite artist is of an exotic nature. “I still remember passing by a music store and hearing Hugh Masekela (a South African flugelhorn player) for the first time. I walked right in and bought the album. It was one of the earliest of my collection, along with Dylan, Hendrix and Cream.”

    Perhaps it’s his global-minded perception that inspired Alex to write his latest album, Songs of Hope and Protest, largely based on a sudden burst of creative energy while sitting in a diner just over a year ago. “I was reflecting about the prison in Guantanamo Bay. I grabbed a napkin and the lyrics just poured forth”, explains Alex; the end result would become Tropical Paradise Nightmare, the first song completed for the new album and ultimately the demo used to showcase the compilation of politically tinged musical expressions. He has been recording and mixing Songs of Hope and Protest during the last year and is excited for its release next spring; Alex is also very aware America stands at a critical moment in its political history, and he’s hoping that his new artistic achievement will help bring some previously unknown knowledge and understanding to his audience, and maybe they’ll even enjoy the music. And if his last album, Beautiful Melody, is any indication of what to expect, his fans should eagerly anticipate some more musical magic.

    Alex’s path to becoming a professional musician has not always been a straightforward journey. His past jobs include digging ditches, working on tractor trailers and being a cook for several years; Alex freely admits that “I floated for twenty-eight years”, but then he had a major awakening when realizing he needed to pursue a particular avenue of existence, that of one as a musician. Building upon a repertoire of instruments that included the trumpet and harmonica, Alex gradually learned how to use more and more musical tools, and his abilities as a musician have certainly benefited his desire to create truly authentic sounds and melodies. Of course, like most artists Alex has a ‘day job’ as a window cleaner to help pay the bills, yet he still finds time for at least an hour a day of trumpet playing, partly to practice but mainly because he loves to play. “For me it’s never been about making it big but about making a living doing what I love. And somehow I’ve managed to stay creative and not become disillusioned with the struggles of being an artist”.

    As any artist will tell you, be it a musician, painter or actor, forging a life based on creative outputs is never an easy task, often consisting of living hand to mouth. “Times are tough”, states Alex. “You have to be creatively focused in order to hold everything together. Too much time is spent rushing from demand to demand, with no time for reflection or vision. One must be committed to making good music, much as a lawyer should be committed to justice or a doctor to healing. Of course reality is not always this ideal”. Even existing means of artistic support such as the Durham Arts Council cannot always be counted on to properly care for their subjects. “It’s not just about payments; it’s about priorities. There’s a lack of funds, and grants need to be written. Artists aren’t being given what they’re owed”.

    Despite any misgivings Alex might have about the business end of musical artistry, he is clearly savoring the moments at this stage of his career. Different Drum has a number of concerts lined up in the immediate future, and his residencies as a composer and teacher, along with performances, at local schools have presented him with a brand new audience willing to become acquainted with sounds and melodies beyond their immediate borders. “Playing and working with the kids is sometimes easier and more enjoyable than the adults. I feel a need to make a contribution, and you can’t change old people. Hopefully I can expose them to something they’ve never heard before”. Alex takes a lot of pleasure from the school concerts, speaking with the same affection as if describing opening for B.B. King, another one of his many accomplishments. He has enjoyed more ups than downs during his considerable career and insists it’s because he has a vision of what he wants to do, perform world music, and sticks with it. We just happen to be lucky enough to be able to share in the experience and listen to his interpretation of a global melody.

Alex Weiss and Different Drum will be performing as a five piece ensemble November 29, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, Elon College’s “Footprints of Africa”

The Different Drum Trio will be featured in Durham Central Park’s Holiday Celebration on Dec 1,  2:30-4:00 pm

Festival fever
Reports from festivals in Wilmington and Asheville
BY DAVID FELLERATH and KATHY JUSTICE

    A stroll down Wilmington's Front Street after midnight Friday became a serendipitous window into understanding one of the most notorious incidents associated with the Wilmington film industry: the 2001 knifing of actor Steve Buscemi outside the Firebelly Lounge—which happened to be the destination of two Triangle filmmakers, myself and another companion.

    The sidewalks of this riverside drag were heavy with malevolent intoxication: Outside an establishment called Sidebar, we saw someone on his back, unconscious, with a snarling man standing astride his figure as emergency responders stood by with a curious lack of urgency.

    Even if the rowdy crowds on Front Street were more or less oblivious to its presence, a few blocks away the 13th annual CUCALORUS FILM FESTIVAL was under way, bigger and more ambitious than ever. Centered in the historic, downtown Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts from Wednesday, Nov. 7 through Saturday, Nov. 10, the festival featured 200 films, up from 129 last year—an increase of more than 50 percent. Furthermore, the festival—which began as a low-key effort by local cinephiles to bring some good movies to town—now boasts funding sufficient for beefing up the paid staff—which includes a development officer and a publicist.

    During a visit that began Friday noon and ended early Saturday afternoon, with a three-hour nap midway through, the crowds looked the same as last year, ranging from a large turnout to the Friday night highlight—this year it was Control, a fine film about Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis that manages to both demystify and respect its doomed subject—to mediocre turnout for less sexy documentaries. And even the sexy ones: At least one proven crowd-pleaser failed to reach many Wilmingtonians. A New York filmmaker reported that a documentary about Ugandan refugee child musicians called War/Dance, which captured the Audience Award at Durham's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival last spring, was "very poorly attended." That film was shown at the festival's newest, most modern venue, the 350-seat Lumina Theater, located on the campus of UNC- Wilmington—an institution that is taking an increasing interest in the festival.

    On the other hand, Durham filmmakers Charlie Thompson and Chris Potter generated a nearly full house in the 120-seat black-box venue upstairs at Thalian Hall for their documentary We Shall Not Be Moved, a 47- minute tribute to the resilience of the African-American residents of Tillery, N.C. in the face of economic and environmental racism. A busload of Tillery residents swelled the crowd, and the Joyful Sound Gospel Choir—which had provided the film's soundtrack—performed "Amazing Grace" and other spirituals afterward.

    A Saturday morning screening of Oswald's Ghost, a comprehensive but familiar survey of the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath, took on an unexpected poignancy: A key talking head in the film was Norman Mailer, whose death had been announced hours earlier. (Mailer argues, persuasively, if somewhat reluctantly, that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.)

    In terms of indigenous film production, Triangle filmmakers matched the Wilmington output at the festival, thanks in large measure to the documentary culture of the area. Jessye McDowell, who directs Carrboro's Flicker Film Festival, premiered Los Trivinos de Huasco, her 16mm black and white short, shimmeringly photographed study of a family of artists in northern Chile. Hillsborough filmmaker and Cucalorus regular Francesca Talenti was on hand with three experimental and animated shorts. On the feature side of the documentary ledger, Linda Booker, Michael Cusack O'Connell, Rex Miller and Indy critic Godfrey Cheshire were present with strong films that have been seen in the Triangle, at Full Frame and elsewhere.

    Cucalorus may be less punky than it used to be, but that's to be expected in an institution that is well into its second decade (even if a number of its key organizers have yet to turn 40). The question, however, seems to be whether North Carolina can develop a full-blown film culture to support it—this state has yet to develop a flagship director or style, and its most successful native filmmakers still find it necessary to live in New York and Los Angeles. Still, with Cucalorus keeping the lights on, and the state government now actively supporting the industry, there are plenty of reasons for a boom, and few obstacles—that is, beyond a lack of coordination that led to a scheduling conflict between this festival and Asheville's (see below), and the industry troubles that drive the present writers' strike. —David Fellerath

    The mountains of western North Carolina have served as the backdrop for several cinematic gems over the years and the people of Asheville, N.C. aren't about to let you forget it. At the opening ceremony of this year's fifth annual ASHEVILLE FILM FESTIVAL, executive director Lee Nesbitt proudly welcomed a packed auditorium to the evening's special screening with a list of motion pictures filmed in the region: Patch Adams, Dirty Dancing and 28 Days were just some of the films mentioned, but the list went on.

    The passion for creating popular film and celebrating the local filmmaker served as the focal point of this year's fest. Fourteen of the films shown during the four-day event were created by local filmmakers and many more had local or Tar Heel connections through cast members. In the spirit of nurturing more local filmmakers, the festival offered training sessions and educational seminars on making movies, including classes in writing and directing, editing and the film business. And for the cinephiles attending the fest, a roundtable discussion by the festival's judges offered a palatable discussion on the state of the independent film in today's motion picture world.

    But more importantly, it was the diverse catalogue of films offered at this year's festival that made the biggest impact. A particular point of interest was the inclusion of three horror films in this year's line-up. The campy horror flick Blood Car, by director and co-writer Alex Orr, was shocking in its premise—after gas prices rise to an all-time high, a young man develops a car that will run on human blood—and funny in its sociopolitical commentary on lust, power and economics. Also of note was Southern Gothic, Charlotte filmmaker Mark Young's seedy vampire noir, based on a small town's demise when a vampire transforms a pious Southern preacher into a bloodsucker searching for the second coming.

    Away from the festival's horrors, there was an excellent Tess Harper retrospective honoring the actress for her cinematic work and showcasing three of her most dynamic films: Tender Mercies (1983), Crimes of the Heart (1986) and Loggerheads (2005, and filmed partly in Asheville). And there was the usual mixture of comedies and dramas, including Andre C. Erin's Simple Things, a locally shot family feature that featured Asheville native Bellamy Young (TV's Dirty Sexy Money).

    Indeed, this year's fest left little to be desired, even offering sneak peeks at big-budget releases such as Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and Tamara Jenkins' The Savages. With a wide variety of independent local releases, documentaries, comedies, horror flicks and shorts, it seems that the Asheville film festival is making great strides towards forming a cohesive celebration of N.C. cinema. —Kathy Justice

(from Independent Weekly, November 14, 2007)

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Heery Casting is working on a pilot for Lifetime TV, being produced by LionsGate Entertainment.
Currently, we are looking for African American actors, male and female, for principal roles. We will see both SAG and Non-SAG.
Shooting will begin in December in Philadelphia.
 
If interested, please e-mail a picture/resume ASAP to:
theverdictcasting@gmail.com
 
No Phone Calls please.
 
Diane Heery, C.S.A.
Heery Casting, Inc.
263 North Lawrence Street
Phila., PA 19106
215-238-9240
Fax: 215-238-9020
 www.heerycasting.com

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Voice-Over Talent Needed

Carlyn Davis Casting is seeking both Union and Non-Union voice over talent who speak fluent French, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese. Voice over narration experience is a plus but is not required. The project will record on
either November 26 or 27, 2007.
 
Please email suzanne@carlyndaviscasting.com with a resume and contact number if you are interested and would like more information the project.
Feel free to attach a voice over demo to the email if you have one.
 

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We are in search of Non Union Mimes
for a Blue Ridge Cable Commercial
 
Rate: $500/8-10hr.day
Shooting: in December.
 
Please contact adrienne@mikelemoncasting.com