Sometimes being a library archive nerd and a jazz music fan pays off.

Larry Appelbaum, a studio engineer for the Library of Congress who hosts a jazz show on WPFW-FM in Washington, was digging through some old Voice of America recordings one cold day this winter and came across a once-in-a-lifetime find.

It was a reel-to-reel tape of a benefit concert for a Harlem community center with the Thelonious Monk jazz band, recorded at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 29, 1957.

Lewis Porter at Rutgers University knew the tape existed, somewhere, and had been searching for it for years.

What Appelbaum discovered also turned out to be the recording of Ray Charles' first jazz concert.

The Dizzy Gillespie ochestra was also on the bill, along with the Sonny Rollings Trio and the Zoot Sims Quartet - with Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, Shadow Wilson on drums and John Coltraine on sax.

Being a huge Coltraine fan, Appelbaum knew he had found something extraordinary.

"It's as if we had found a new Hitchcock film no one knew existed," he said. "This kind of find is what makes it fascinating to come to work here everyday."

Some record label will no doubt want to produce and release a CD based on the recording, he said. "Someone will put this out."

I for one can't wait to hear it.

For more information, visit the Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board online.

GW