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The Pulitzer Prize Board has awarded a posthumous Special Citation to jazz icon Thelonious Monk for his lifetime achievements as a path-breaking American composer.
The citation praises Monk for "a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz."
"Above all, this is special recognition for a composer who had an immense and lasting impact on music across the world," said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. "At the same time, it reflects the Board's 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.
The citation for Monk was first suggested by Muhal Richard Abrams, a jazz composer serving on the 2005 Pulitzer Music Jury. His suggestion was explored confidentially by the Pulitzer Board with experts in the field of music.
All consulted were enthusiastic about an award that would recognize what one called Monk's "genuine genius" as a composer and what another called his "miniature masterpieces."
A primary creator of the jazz style called "bebop," Monk produced what his biographer, Robin D.G. Kelley, a Columbia professor, describes as "a new architecture" for music.
In proposing a citation for Monk, Abrams noted that Monk had a "tremendous impact on contemporary composition and performance throughout the world."
Abrams wrote that Monk's compositions, including "Round Midnight," "Straight No Chaser" and "Ruby My Dear" have "become standards in American music literature along with the compositions of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and many other noteworthy American composers."
The Pulitzer Prize Board, chaired by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., announced that the awards would be presented at a luncheon on May 22 at Columbia University. For the complete list of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize Award Winners, visit www.pulitzer.org.
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