Author Archive
ABOUT MY ALTER EGO
by Dr. Scat on Jun.22, 2009, under Bio
DR. SCAT (Dr. Mark Weiss) has been using his remarkable voice as an improvising jazz instrument for over thirty years. Most recently, this son of the late Sid Weiss, legendary bassist with Tommy Dorsey’s, Artie Shaw’s and Benny Goodman’s Bands, has taken his bebop scat singing overseas, performing at jazz clubs and festivals in Copenhagen, Paris and the Hague.
Stateside, he has opened for the Jacksonville Symphony and has appeared twice at the Knoxville Museum of Art as a featured vocalist with the Donald Brown Trio. DR. SCAT has also sung informally with Clark Terry in St. Louis and with Doc Cheatham at Sweet Basil’s in New York City. He has appeared nationally on PM Magazine.
When he resided in Atlanta, DR. SCAT was very much a musical presence. For five years, he performed with The Jerry Farber Trio at Mr. Farber’s club and sat in regularly with Ojeeda Penn, Howard Nicholson and other Atlanta music notables. DR. SCAT was also featured at the annual Piedmont Jazz Festival.
For the eighteen years DR. SCAT has lived in Memphis he has been a fixture on the local jazz scene. With his own band, Heaven on Earth, he performed at Mallard’s in the Peabody Hotel, The Marketplace and Palm Court. He has been featured on WUMR jazz radio and on many local television shows. He has hosted live shows featuring the music of many jazz greats and has led many workshops on jazz and the art of vocal improvisation.
Among the Memphis jazz stars that have enjoyed his presence on their bandstands are: the late Phineas Newborn, Jr., his brother Calvin Newborn and Herman Green. In 1993, BEBOP LIVES, the debut album featuring his New York-style vocalizations, premiered at Joyce Cobb’s Club on world-renowned Beale Street And now, Dr. Scat and the incomparable Ms. Cobb perform frequently at Boscos Squared in midtown Memphis.
