Pulitzer Prize Board honors jazz legend John Coltrane with special citation

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Media Contact: Robert Hornsby, 212-854-9752 or email rh2239@columbia.edu

New York, April 17, 2007 — The Pulitzer Prize Board has awarded a posthumous Special Citation to legendary jazz composer John Coltrane for his lifetime of innovated and influential work.

The citation lauds Coltrane for “his masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship and iconic centrality to the history of jazz.”

The Board announced the award Monday afternoon.

“First and foremost, this citation aims to honor a composer and artist who had an indelible impact on music in America and across the world,” said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. “It also underscores the Board’s continuing desire to broaden its Music Prize to recognize the full range of musical excellence in America that might not have been considered under previous rules and practices.”

The Board voted in 2004 to widen the definition of the Music Prize. Last year, a posthumous Special Citation was awarded to composer Thelonoius Monk, another jazz great.

The Board’s Music Committee, chaired by Jim Amoss, editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, proposed the citation for Coltrane after a confidential survey of a range of experts in the music field.

The committee said of Coltrane:
“His exalted stature arises from his composition and recordings. In ‘A Love Supreme,’ he produced an imposing composition expressing faith. In ‘Africa/Brass Selections,’ he achieved astonishing orchestral feats. His work has weight, an artistic quest and searching nature. Coltrane infused the existing tradition with innovation and radical approaches. The surface of his music is dynamic and palpable, the underlying structure is suffused with spirituality and provocative political content.”

About the Pulitzer Prizes:

The Pulitzer Prize Board announced the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Nominated Finalists on April 16, 2007. For the complete list of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Award Winners, please visit, www.pulitzer.org.

For more information about the Pulitzer Prize Awards, please contact:
Sig Gissler, administrator, Pulitzer Prizes, 212-854-7327 or email sg138@columbia.edu
Jim Amoss, chair of Music Committee, Pulitzer Prize Board, 524-826-3475 or email jamoss@timespicayune.com

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