Donate | NPR Shop | NPR Community | Login | Register
The Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at the Five Spot Café in New York City, 1957, the same year as the Carnegie Hall concert. Enlargement: From left, John Coltrane, Shadow Wilson, Thelonious Monk and Ahmed Abdul-Malik.
The Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at the Five Spot Café in New York City, 1957, the same year as the Carnegie Hall concert. Enlargement: From left, John Coltrane, Shadow Wilson, Thelonious Monk and Ahmed Abdul-Malik.
Hear selections from 'Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall.'
The cover of the original program for the Nov. 29, 1957, Carnegie Hall concert. (View enlargement to see more of the program and the concert poster.)
The cover of the original program for the Nov. 29, 1957, Carnegie Hall concert. (View enlargement to see more of the program and the concert poster.)
October 5, 2005 - 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 handwritten note on the back that said "T. Monk" with some song titles.
Appelbaum, a jazz specialist at the Library of Congress, got excited at the prospect of finding unpublished materials by the jazz master Thelonious Monk.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 recordings were lost and forgotten. Now, thanks to Appelbaum's discovery, Blue Note Records is releasing them.
Loading...
Comments
Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.