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Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
(Photo: Ken Kimery)Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C., from natural causes. He was 67.
Appelbaum lived a life shaped by his passion for music in general, and jazz in particular. Among his many accomplishments, he is perhaps best known for discovering the lost 1957 Thelonious Monk-John Coltrane Carnegie Hall tapes in the Voice of America archive at the Library of Congress, where he worked for more than four decades. (Blue Note Records released the tapes in 2005 as Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall to critical and commercial success.) He served as supervisor of the Magnetic Recording Laboratory and later as a senior music reference specialist in the Music Division. As such, Larry dedicated his career to preserving and documenting jazz history, leaving a lasting mark on the field and ensuring the preservation of historical recordings for future generations.
His expertise contributed to major jazz anthologies, including Jazz: The First Century and Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology. He also curated a long-running jazz film series at the Library of Congress and wrote extensively for many publications, including DownBeat. (His final contribution, a review of Village of the Sun’s Live In Tokyo, appeared in the February issue.)
Larry’s love for jazz was also evident in his long career in radio. He hosted the long-running show The Sound of Surprise — known for its exceptionally wide range of music — on WPFW-FM in Washington. Over 40 years, he shared his deep knowledge, rare recordings and insightful commentary, earning the respect and admiration of jazz enthusiasts worldwide.
Lawrence Allan Appelbaum was born April 12, 1957, in Washington, D.C., where he lived his entire life. He was a graduate of the University of Maryland (where he began his broadcasting career on campus station WMUC). In 1979, while still a student, he took his first job at the Library of Congress, where he continued to work until his retirement in 2020. He began broadcasting at WPFW in 1981 and remained on the air weekly until 2024.
In addition to his archival and broadcasting work, Appelbaum was an influential lecturer, speaking at conferences, universities and institutions across the globe. He consulted on international jazz archives and played a key role in bringing live performances, educational programming and oral histories to the public. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz music, which was particularly evident when interviewing jazz legends. He was especially active in the local D.C. music scene, where he was known and admired by area musicians, journalists, presenters and administrators.
He is survived by two brothers, Howard Appelbaum of New York and Marc Appelbaum of Louisiana, and by his longtime companion, Masha Morozova.
Larry left an indelible mark on the music industry. The world of jazz has lost a lion.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to WPFW (P.O. Box 42099, Washington, DC 20015). DB
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