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New Monk-Coltrane Performance Discovered


JSngry

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Heard this on the KNTU-AP News at noon whilst in the car, going to grab a pack of smokes. Rushed right home, checked it out, and here it is. Couldn't believe it then, still having a hard time believeing it. Not enough info.

But, as it says here: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050405/D899BEEO1.html

New Monk-Coltrane Performance Discovered

Apr 5, 12:05 PM (ET)

By CARL HARTMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - The discovery of a previously unknown recording by jazz masters Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane was announced Tuesday by the Library of Congress as it revealed this year's additions to its National Recording Registry.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong's first words from the moon, speeches by President Wilson and Gen. Douglas MacArthur and songs by Al Jolson, Muddy Waters and Nirvana are among 50 recordings being set aside for special preservation.

There's plenty of music, from Victor Herbert's "Gypsy Love Song" of 1898, through Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" in 1939, to Nirvana's 1991 album "Nevermind." Performances must be 10 years old to qualify. This is the third group of recordings to be added to the registry.

The newly discovered performance by pianist Monk and saxophonist Coltrane at Carnegie Hall was never commercially recorded, the library said. The collaboration is not one of the 50 recordings being added to the registry.

News broadcasts being inducted include Wilson's speech of Nov. 11, 1923, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. It is the earliest surviving recording of a regular news broadcast.

Other inductees include an NBC broadcast of Charles Lindbergh's arrival and reception in Washington after his solo flight to Paris in 1927; an Edward R. Murrow broadcast from a London rooftop during the Battle of Britain in 1940, and MacArthur's "Old soldiers never die" speech in 1951 after President Truman recalled him from duty in the Korean War.

Jolson is heard singing George Gershwin and Irving Caesar's song "Swanee" - Gershwin's first hit. Waters contributes "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" from 1954. The library sponsored archivist Alan Lomax's 1941 expedition to Mississippi, where he originally recorded Waters.

Classical recordings include Sergei Rachmaninoff playing his Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1929; a 1939 Boston Symphony performance of Sergey Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," and a 1958 performance of Handel's "Messiah" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Inductees from the rock era include James Brown's 1965 "Live at the Apollo," the Beach Boys' 1966 "Pet Sounds," 1971's "The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East" and Public Enemy's 1989 "Fear of a Black Planet."

One of the odder selections is a collections of sounds made by Asian elephants. Some of the elephant sounds are infrasonic - inaudible to the human ear - but were nevertheless recorded by Katharine Payne of Cornell University in 1984.

Outer space buffs can listen to Armstrong's famous "one small step for man" speech from the moon in 1969 - and follow that up with John Williams' soundtrack to the 1977 movie "Star Wars."

---

On the Net:

National Recording Registry: http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-nrr.html

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"Performances must be 10 years old to qualify. This is the third group of recordings to be added to the registry.

The newly discovered performance by pianist Monk and saxophonist Coltrane at Carnegie Hall was never commercially recorded, the library said. The collaboration is not one of the 50 recordings being added to the registry."

So Why wouldn't this be added to the registry?

guess Im missing something

Sure hope to here it

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The article gives zero info on how they came about this recording.

Since it's the Library of Congress, I'll call them pronto and see what's up with that. I may even get to listen to this 'ere long.

Bertrand.

Yes, Bertrand, please report back!

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I just sent an e-mail to my contact at the Library (I talked to her on the phone, but she didn't know about the tape).

Only 50 titles were added to the registry - this one just didn't make the cut (maybe because of sound quality?) It's a political thing. However some unissued recordings do make the cut.

Yes, we need to see what Lewis Porter knows.

I will keep you guys updated.

Bertrand.

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I recall reading many years ago J.C. Thomas' biog of Trane - I think it was the first one done of Trane - wherein the author discusses a late '60s scheduled double bill of Monk and Trane. In any event, Trane's sidemen - this was the Pharoah edition, I believe - were late showing up (if they did at all) due to inclement weather. As a result Trane sat in with Monk. I certainly don't think that Carnegie Hall was the venue, more like some place in the midwest, but other than the 5 Spot material, the article posted above is the only other time I've heard of these JazzBigs getting together. Exciting news, if true.

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I can't believe that article didn't mention this...

Among the other items added to the list this year is Public Enemy's "Fight the Power". May seem like a no-brainer to some but let me remind you that "Fight the Power" is the one where they say...

Chuck:

"Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant sh*t to me.

The sucker was flat out racist,

Simple and plain."

Flavor Flav:

"F*ck him and John Wayne!"

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The Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane on tenor appeared at a Carnegie Hall double concert on Thanksgiving Day November 29, 1957. Concerts at 8.30PM and Midnight.

The concerts which were a benefit for the Morningside Community Center were MCed by Willis Conover and taped for the Voice of America. Ahmed Abdul Malik and Shadow Wilson were also in the Monk Quartet.

Other performers at the concert included the Dizzy Gillespie big band, Billie Holiday, the Chet Baker Quartet with Zoot Sims, Sonny Rollins and Ray Charles!

Would guess these are the rediscovered performances.

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What's the deal with VoA recordings? Can they be issued commercially? Do we tax payers "own" them? Did they help us win the cold war? Wasn't there a Miles Davis VoA recording from his resurgence at Newport (55 or 56) recently issued commercially or was that from another source?

Edited by Tom in RI
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capt.dcmc10104051618.great_recordings_dcmc101.jpg

Larry Appelbaum, studio engineer/supervisor at the Library of Congress, holds the very rare previously unpublished live recording of the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltraine, at the Library of Congress, Tuesday, April 05, 2005, in Washington. The tape was recorded in November 29, 1957 at Carnegie Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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The Miles thing came out in Europe. . . not sure if it was "legitimate"--doubt it. . . Jazz Door I think.

Not sure what the deal is on these. There's potentially quite a bit of Newport material that they could have available, and maybe even more stereo "concoctions" might be possible like the Columbia Duke!

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Thanks Brownie - VOA makes total sense. The Library of Congress acquired the VOA collection quite a few years ago (including a bunch of Newport tapes). I'm sure Larry has known about the Monk/Trane thing for awhile, but there must be some politics involved as to why this has not come to light previously.

The entire Miles set from Newport (the 'comeback concert' which led to his signing to Columbia) is also there. I listened to it a few years back. Michael Cuscuna had asked me who to contact to ask about this tape (for the Newport set that came out a few months ago), but I don't know if that is ultimately where the version of 'Round Midnight' came from.

I have listened to a couple of other choice items from the Newport Collection: Maynard Ferguson Orchestra with Wayne Shorter in the band, and Blakey at Newport in 1961 with Dorham and Shorter (Lee Morgan was absent).

I don't know who the 'owners' are, but now that this Monk/Trane thing is out there, my guess is that record companies will come a calling (or at least that is their hope). Rights need to be worked out, of course, but it's feasible. It's happened before.

My guess: this will come out on Sony with Michael producing. I assume he is aware that this tape exists. We will need to see how the sound quality is; my guess is it's OK.

Bertrand.

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