Comments on: West Coasting It in The Big Apple

By: Chewy

Chewy — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 02:05:52 +0000

i found most of the modes below the $10 mark however the warne is impossible to locate and always $$$. “interlude” records reissued some of them but the lp covers arent as fun

By: Jud

Jud — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 13:18:47 +0000

Hey Al, you probably never played Kamuca because that cover looks like some bad Pat Boone pop record. At least to me.

By: Brian Anderson

Brian Anderson — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 16:54:48 +0000

I agree. MODE has a very crisp and clean sound. One I really enjoy is the Pepper Adams Quintet (MOD-LP-112) And yes I certainly do agree about Carl Perkins who is a thoroughly enjoyable pianist. I love his work on the Curtis Counce Contemporaries.

By: Clifford Allen

Clifford Allen — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 20:08:17 +0000

I find stuff on Mode to be generally intriguing.

By: Gregory the Fish

Gregory the Fish — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 15:40:53 +0000

bongohito: i mean in the wider pantheon of jazz collecting. it IS essential to me. relax.

By: JOK

JOK — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 04:56:44 +0000

I have about 10 Modes, and they certainly are a label that I look for. And I too am looking for that Kamuca record. I love everything about Carl Perkins and his playing.

By: geoffrey wheeler

geoffrey wheeler — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 01:52:07 +0000

Everything about the Mode label is quality. Wonderful artists appear on the label (I’m not keen on the vocalists). The total package is beautifully done, including the classy label. A number of Mode albums have been reissued under the V.S.O.P. imprint and are recommended. Richie Kamuca was an excellent player, in the same neglected class as Brew Moore. In addition to Mode and other labels, Kamuca recorded satisfying albums for Concord.

I can’t imagine the Jack Sheldon album selling for more than eleven-hundred dollars. Perhaps being on the Jazz-West label, which had a very short catalog, is part of the reason. As for my introduction to West Coast jazz, I first bought several Contemporary 1952/1953 78s, along with the 10-inch 1952 Modern Sounds Capitol album by Shorty Rogers. I later bought a copy of the 78 book album (same cover as the LP). There are some nice photo books of West Coast album covers, plus the ground-breaking 1955 portfolio by William Claxton, Jazz West Coast. Collectible copies are available for $395-$600.

By: japhy

japhy — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 01:05:07 +0000

At the record show in St. Louis today I came across an original Mode 112 “Pepper Adams Quintet” (also with Carl Perkins and LeRoy Vinnegar, but with Mel Lewis on drums) for $1.00. Yep. And if you assumed it must be trashed, you are correct. P/P. I’ve got a nice copy already and was going to grab this just to save it from the landfill, but I put it back in the box and bought some other stuff. When I paid up the seller said, “If you want that Pepper Adams you can just have it.” So I took it. Now what?

By: bongohito

bongohito — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 19:17:16 +0000

isn’t an ‘essential’ label….? you omitted the all important qualifier: ‘to me’.

i couldn’t disagree more. the mode catalog is amazing. one man’s ‘not essential’ is another mans treasure.

By: Gregory The Fish

Gregory The Fish — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 16:36:51 +0000

This is the only Mode record on the grey label that I don’t have an original of. It isn’t an essential label, Mode, but most of it is very good West Coast jazz, and I am hot on the trail of this one. What a coincidence!