Larry Appelbaum

Lawrence Allan Appelbaum (April 12, 1957 – February 21, 2025) was an American audio engineer and jazz historian who was the Senior Music Reference Specialist in the Music Division of the Library of Congress, and hosted a Jazz show on WPFW for c. 40 years.^[1][2]

Lawrence Applebaum was born in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 1957, and attended the University of Maryland.^[3] 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. It was released in 2005.^[4] In 2007, a similar discovery enabled Sonny Rollins to announce the release of his 1957 debut at the Carnegie Hall.^[1][5] After a stroke in 2017, he worked remotely for the Library of Congress until retiring in 2020.^[3]

In 2024, Appelbaum was awarded the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award by the Howard University Jazz Ensemble.^[6]

Appelbaum died from pneumonia at a Washington hospital on February 21, 2025, at the age of 67.^[3][7][2][8] The New York Times said that among his survivors was Masha Morozeva, described as his "longtime companion", though The Washington Post said they were divorced at the time of his death.^[3][2]