Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, is the Thursday before Easter. In the late 1960s composer Willie Maiden was commissioned by St. Christopher’s Church in La Mirada, California, to compose music for the service.

A rehearsal was captured on a reel to reel tape recorder and you can hear that music here for the first time.

More details will be posted about this historic event as time permits. If anyone has any memories or information, please let us know.

The music and other materials were provided by Irma Jean Lawrence. She and her husband Jack Burns owned a music store at which Maiden rented a studio. It was Burns and Maiden who concocted the idea and convinced the church to do a jazz service. Many well known musicians were a part of the event, including Mike Vacarro, Pete Christleib, Don Rader (or Jay Daversa), and others.