User:André Sumelius/sandbox

Larry Appelbaum (Born in 1957, Washington D.C., USA) is a senior music specialist (jazz) at the Library of Congress, as well as a freelance writer and radio host. Appelbaum started his foray into music as a baritone vocalist. His musical interests converged through finding similarities of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and American jazz bassist, Ray Brown. After having been prompted by a colleague to improve on his musical rhythm and time feel by listening to Count Basie, Appelbaum did so in a live setting, seated on the floor in front of the first row of seats at a Basie concert. The explosive energy of Basie’s band, including the rhythmic stylings of guitarist Freddie Green, started Appelbaum on a lifelong interest in the sound and feeling of jazz music. While working as the Senior Studio Engineer at the Library of Congress, Appelbaum became widely known for having discovered Eight 10-inch reels of acetate tape, simply labeled "Carnegie Hall Jazz 1957". The recordings featured the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. The recording was consequently released by Blue Note Records in 2005. This was one of many recordings which Appelbaum has discovered while performing his work. Through his work as a journalist and archivist, Appelbaum is one of a handful of protagonists keeping the jazz tradition documented, as dynamically and vividly as the artform itself, by conducting interviews with musicians and participating in panel discussions at events around the world.

Appelbaum graduated from the University of Maryland in 1980.