[Dixielandjazz] More unknown recordings discovered

[Steve barbone]

Rare Jazz Recordings Uncovered

1940s Lester Young Jam Session Recording Discovered

During a news conference announcing the fourth annual National Recording
Registry, the Library of Congress also announced the discovery of a jam
session featuring jazz great Lester Young. Speaking on the Young discovery,
Loren Schoenberg, executive director of the Jazz Museum in Harlem, said,
³Yes, this was Lester¹s absolute zenith and there is precious little extant
from this period. Imagine a new Shakespearean sonnet, Chopin nocturne or
Hemingway short story ­ that's what we have here ­ an American master, a
true iconoclast, at his very best.²

Three disc sides were found among a donated collection of about 150 16-inch
lacquer discs -- a fragile, pre-tape recordable format -- which will be
digitally preserved by the Library as part of its continuing digital
preservation initiative. Eugene DeAnna, head of the Library¹s Recorded Sound
Section, said that no one previously knew about this hidden jazz treasure,
and he spoke about the compelling story behind the discovery, which was
simply labeled ³Jam Session, December 29, 1940²:

³The outer sleeve had some pencil marks showing first names that would be of
great interest to jazz aficianados ­ Doc, J. C., Shad and, most intriguing,
L. Young,² DeAnna recalled. ³When our audio engineer cued the disc, we were
delighted to find a jam session featuring Lester Young leading a small band
in an unidentified nightclub.² Young was accompanied by Shad Collins on
trumpet, Doc West on drums, J.C. Higginbotham on trombone and Sammy Price on
piano.

The recording is especially significant because it was recorded during a
vital period in Young¹s career, when little of his work survives. According
to DeAnna, it is speculated that Young was performing at the famous Village
Vanguard in New York City. ³At one point the emcee announces that the chile
con carne is ready,² DeAnna said.

A similar announcement was made at last year¹s National Recording Registry
news conference, when the Library announced that historically significant
concert tapes, featuring the legendary jazz pianist and composer Thelonious
Monk and iconic saxophonist John Coltrane, had been uncovered in the
Library¹s recorded sound collection during preparation for preservation.
Those recordings were released as a top-selling CD in 2005, under the title
³Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall.²

Larry Appelbaum, the Library¹s Recording Lab supervisor and jazz specialist
who discovered the Monk-Coltrane tapes, will lecture on ³Hunting for Jazz
Treasures: Discovering the Monk-Coltrane Tapes,² at 7 p.m. on Wednesday,
April 19, in the Mary Pickford Theater, LM 301, James Madison Building, 101
Independence Ave., Washington, D.C.

The Library of Congress (www.loc.gov) is the nation's oldest federal
cultural institution and the world's largest library with more than 132
million items, which includes nearly 2.8 million sound recordings. The
Library's Recorded Sound Section holds the largest number of radio
broadcasts in the United States ­ more than 500,000.