Unearthing Unknown Monk, Coltrane Recording

One day in late January, Larry Appelbaum was thumbing through some old Voice of America audiotapes about to be digitized at the Library of Congress when he made a discovery that would stun him and many other jazz fans. Eight 10-inch reels of acetate tape were labeled "Carnegie Hall Jazz 1957." One of the tape boxes had a hand-written note on the back that said "T. Monk" with some song titles. Appelbaum, a jazz specialist at the Library Congress, got pretty excited at the prospect of finding some unpublished materials by the jazz master Thelonious Monk. Then he heard another distinctive sound. "I recognized the tenor saxophone of John Coltrane and my heart started to race," Appelbaum says. The Nov. 29, 1957, concert was recorded by the Voice of America but never broadcast. For years the recording was lost and forgotten. Now, thanks to Appelbaum's discovery, Blue Note Records is releasing the recordings.