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Mark Mossey: The Real Doctor Jazz June 2005
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I don’t remember exactly how the contact came about but one day young Mark Mossey showed up at the Barking Spider and sat in with the Hot Jazz 7. I was blown away when someone called “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue” and Mark nailed the difficult, semi-solo verse. I knew that a major new traditional jazz talent had just arrived on the NE Ohio jazz scene. And he’s only a kid compared to many of us trad jazz players! Mark continued to play with the Hot Jazz 7 and with other local bands from time to time and made a significant impression upon both jazz fans and musicians. Now here’s the bad news: Mark is a great player and has a great future playing with bands in this area. He could make nearly minimum wage like the rest of us if he would hang around. Here’s the story: In spite of strong counseling, arm twisting and promises of Big Money in Dixieland, Mark is moving away. We tried to help him but he just couldn’t get his priorities straight. You see, Mark came to us as a recently minted M.D. with his degree from the University of Virginia Medical School. In Cleveland, he was a resident at the Metro Health system. That residency kept getting in the way of playing jazz!
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On top of that, he’s getting married! He and Mindy Miller will be married on July 2. Then, in August, Mark starts his new job as an Emergency Room doctor at the Conway Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, SC. Mindy is completing the Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Michigan. Mark comes about his talent quite naturally. Both parents are organ enthusiasts. His mother has been a church organist for many years. His father actually rebuilt an old pipe organ in his garage! He is interested in using the organ and other instruments to accompany old silent films – Buster Keaton, especially. As a child, Mark had a few years lessons on piano. (He still plays ragtime piano!) While in junior and senior high he played clarinet and then trumpet. Later, he taught himself guitar, string bass and tuba. Dr. Mossey got into jazz when he was a college student. He was a Computer Science major at Williams College but took many music courses and played with the Williams College big band. They played lots of Ellington material and he was especially enamored with Ellington’s classic composition “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” By the way, Mark also marks several other musicians as important influences: Henry “Red” Allen, Louie, Fats Waller, Jim Cullum, Ernie Carson and Ted Des Plantes, as well as Winton and Ellis Marsalis. The next major influence was while Mark was living in the Washington, DC area. There he met Dave Robinson. Some of you may know Dave as the founder of the Traditional Jazz Educators’ Network (TJEN). (See their web site: http://www.prjc. org/tjen/) Dave invited Mark to become a part of the Federal Focus Jazz Band (now called the Capital Focus JB) for 18-26 year olds. Dave was able to pay these young people for rehearsals, for gigs, and for travel. He was very strict in his rehearsals and made it a point for the youngsters to hear and play major styles of traditional jazz – New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco. He said “It’s all about style, not how high you can play.” I talked with Dave Robinson about Mark. Among other nice things, Dave recalls, “In addition to being a peach of a guy, Mark developed into a fine horn player. He went with the CFJB on trips to New Orleans a few years ago, sitting in with the CFJB at its gigs in Preservation Hall, Fritzel's Jazz Pub and other jazz spots, and he sounded great. Mark exemplifies what I try to achieve in the CFJB program: Getting young players enthused about trad jazz enough to continue with it after they graduate from the band.” They even had a ‘girl’ singer occasionally (Carol Leigh!). The band also played at the famous Sacramento Jazz Festival in 1995 and 1996.” When Mark was in med school at UVA, he found that there was little traditional jazz in Charlottesville. He fixed that problem. He started a band that played the kind of music he liked – traditional jazz. The band varied in size from five to seven pieces and often included Mark’s sister Ann on vocals. They put out a CD which has become a collector’s item. The name of the band: The Steamboat Willies. For those of you who don’t watch the Cartoon Network, Steamboat Willie was the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon (in black and white, of course). Actually, his whole family was involved with the band in one way or another. Thanks, Mom and Dad for moral and financial support and driving their limousine. His sister Patti was their official photographer. One great job for the band was playing in Cincinnati’s Tall Stacks Festival. Could Dr. Mossey’s departure for the sunny South be called a trumpet drain? NE Ohio has lost another fine trumpet player. Mark and Mindy -- we’re going to miss you! Come back and see us when you can!
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