Lawrence Allan Appelbaum (April 12, 1957 – February 21, 2025) was an American

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

historian who was the Senior Music Reference Specialist in the Music Division of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, and hosted a Jazz show on

WPFW WPFW (89.3 FM) is a public radio and jazz music community radio station, serving the Washington metropolitan area. It is owned by the Pacifica Foundation, wit studios located on K Street, NW, Washington, D.C. The station's slogan is "Jazz and J ...

for . Lawrence Applebaum was born in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 1957, and attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. In his role at the Library of Congress digitising recordings, he discovered the lost tape of ''

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall ''Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall'' is a live album by the Thelonious Monk Quartet, which included John Coltrane at the time. It was recorded at Carnegie Hall on November 29, 1957, and was released on September 27, 2005 ...

''. It was released in 2005. In 2007, a similar discovery enabled

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

to announce the release of his 1957 debut at the

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. After a stroke in 2017, he worked remotely for the Library of Congress until retiring in 2020. In 2024, Appelbaum was awarded the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award by the Howard University Jazz Ensemble. Appelbaum died from pneumonia at a Washington hospital on February 21, 2025, at the age of 67.RIP Lawrence Allan Appelbaum 12.04.1957 – 21.02.2025
/ref> ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said that among his survivors was Masha Morozeva, described as his "longtime companion", though ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' said they were divorced at the time of his death.

References

External links

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Larry Appelbaum Blog
at

1957 births 2025 deaths American audio engineers 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians Deaths from pneumonia in Washington, D.C. Radio personalities from Washington, D.C. University of Maryland, College Park alumni {{US-music-bio-stub