Tim Thurston's music choices for the week of May 18th

MONDAY - GIOVANNI GABRIELI - CANTATE DOMINO. Gabrieli was one of the earliest Venetian Maestri di Capella of San Marco and his magnificent music is most keenly felt in that astonishing glowing space - though sadly no longer heard there.
EVENING JAZZ - The piano playing of Thelonius Monk is instantly recognisable. He grew more and more eccentric - and unwell and withdrew into a silent world. But his piano style - angular and slow when the fashion was fast and furious and his many compositions remain unique. He was one of the real trailblazers of jazz.

TUESDAY - CHANT - VOCEM IUCUNDATIS - Declare with a voice of joy - this is the introit for the 6th Sunday of Easter.
EVENING JAZZ - In a series of US female pianists I must add Marilyn Crispell. Like most of today's keyboard players she was classically trained but she can play wonderfully wild free jazz. Her work with Anthony Braxton was thrilling.

WEDNESDAY - FRANZ SCHUBERT - Standchen has long been one of my favourite works by Schubert - for alto solo and male chorus - Dubliner Alison Browner's version is lovely.
EVENING JAZZ - One of my most memorable London Jazz Festival concerts was by Maria Schneider's superb band. Her compositions and arrangements are very special and she has some great soloists too. My favourite contemporary big band by far.

THURSDAY - Today is Ascension Day, the 40th day after Easter Sunday. PETER PHILIPS was educated in St Paul's Cathedral School but became a Catholic and lived in Flanders for much of his life. He was renowned throughout Europe as a keyboard player and composer. Ascendit Deus is his most renowned motet from 1612.
EVENING JAZZ - The New York Times observed, “There’s probably no frame wide enough to encompass the creative output of the pianist VIJAY IYER.” He is a New Yorker of Indian extraction and his recent programmes on the ECM label are enthralling.

FRIDAY  - JOHANN ROSENMULLER - ASCENDIT CHRISTUS IN ALTUM. I have "discovered" Rosenmuller recently thanks to a number of recordings. He spent 20 years in Venice from 1658 as a sackbut player in San Marco. Counter-tenor Robin Blaze includes the work in a lovely programme titled Salve Regina.
EVENING JAZZ - BAD PLUS - One of the finest piano trios. There has been a change of pianist in recent years but Orrin Evans has maintained the tight unity of the group. Very well worth an hour or 2 under the phones.

SATURDAY - MOZART SYMPHONY 29. Another nostalgic choice. This was the first symphony I got to know really well - and I still think its my favourite.
EVENING JAZZ - And more nostalgia - STAN GETZ - SWEET RAIN. I had known Getz's swinging tenor from schooldays but this album from 1967 with a 26 year old Chick Corea and a brilliant rhythm section is a real Desert Island choice. I listened right through recently with great joy.

SUNDAY - JOSEPH HAYDN. PIANO TRIOS - There is so much to delight in from Haydn's chamber music. His 45 piano trios - no less - are full of charming graceful music.
EVENING JAZZ - OREGON - No other group personifies the best of "World Music". Oboe, bass, indian percussion and one of the best guitarists in the business, Ralph Towner. The 2017 album Lantern is their 30th - full of subtle swinging music.