Mark Dobis is an exceptional electric guitarist. His earliest musical influences were in R&B, Funk, Jazz, Soul, Reggae, and Rock. David Bowie’s “Station to Station” prompted Mark to pick up a guitar at 18 years of age to learn Earl Slick’s epic solo in “Station to Station”. Mark is a quick study having had formal teaching with electric organ at an earlier age. He is otherwise self-taught on guitar.
Mark Dobis has performed in a number of projects including 52 Division, an Alt-Funk band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1987, 52 was a staple on the Toronto club scene through 1993. Rare Roots, a reggae band in the late 80’s. JAMNATION, an acid-jazz project in the mid 90’s influenced by bands like Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies, D’Influence and others with retro throwbacks such as Bill Withers. Mark also played with the Lex Pistols, the CANFAR 2005 Champions and 2006 event openers. Since its inception in 1987, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) has been a trailblazer as the only national charitable foundation that raises awareness to generate funds for research into all aspects of HIV and AIDS. NOVA was later formed in 2005-2006 as a side project to the Lex Pistols around original tunes written by bassist-vocals Sylvio Escobar.
Mark composes down-tempo original material collaboratively in the group Lounge 10.
Mark continues to play live events from time to time with Diamond Dogs, a David Bowie tribute band, and RAM 4.0, a rock cover band.
Mark’s influences are diverse, being heavily influenced by such stellar guitarists as Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughn to the jazz/fusion stylings of Wes Montgomery, Allan Holdsworth and Martin Miller.
Mark’s electric sound is clear and articulate. As a result, he has caught the ear and attention of Toronto-based international professional soul-jazz singer pianist keyboard player songwriter and house music recording artist Coco “Cognac” Brown, with whom he now performs in duo configurations as well as with her 4-piece band “COCO”. They are working on original material towards the release of her latest CD entitled “FEEL”.
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