Petition for Duke to receive the Pulitzer Prize

[Mark M.]

Duke Ellington was denied a Pulitzer Prize in 1965. Author Ted Gioia is appealing to the Pulitzer committee to correct this and award Duke the Pulitzer posthumously. He has written the committee twice and is promoting this cause through interviews, op-eds, etc. He has created a petition which you can sign here:

Petition * Give Duke Ellington the Pulitzer Prize He Was Denied in 1965 * Change.org

I have signed and encourage your support.

[Marinero]

Hi, M,
I wouldn't place too much value on the Pulitzer today as a judge of talent and genius. Literature and Poetry have also suffered from voluminous reams of half-cooked pablum by hipster "artists." Here's a recent Pulitzer winner in Music--Kendrick Lamar. Petition for Duke . . . hmmmmm.
Marinero

[rrbasic]

Hi, M,
I wouldn't place too much value on the Pulitzer today as a judge of talent and genius. Literature and Poetry have also suffered from voluminous reams of half-cooked pablum by hipster "artists." Here's a recent Pulitzer winner in Music--Kendrick Lamar. Petition for Duke . . . hmmmmm.
Marinero

You should probably add Dylan's name to this statement.

[Marinero]

You should probably add Dylan's name to this statement.

Hi, rr,
I certainly would!
Marinero

[Jimmy blue note]

I would nominate Marcel Marceau, master of expressive understatement.

[Jabberwocky]

Hi, M,
I wouldn't place too much value on the Pulitzer today as a judge of talent and genius. Literature and Poetry have also suffered from voluminous reams of half-cooked pablum by hipster "artists." Here's a recent Pulitzer winner in Music--Kendrick Lamar. Petition for Duke . . . hmmmmm.
Marinero

I don't know how to feel
like the first time I fucked a white bitch...
the first time I fucked a white bitch I was
sixteen at The Palisades...

That's a Pulitzer Prize winner? Love-lorn poem much?

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year’s leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year’s bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go,—so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, “There is no memory of him here!”
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

[Jabberwocky]

Duke, stuff the Pulitzer. You're better than that.

[Litterick]

I couldn't care less.

[Mark M.]

1. It’s an opportunity to correct the obvious slight by the Pulitzer Committee in 1965. He was recommended for the award and instead of choosing Duke who was so deserving they made no award that year. Obviously, that decision had nothing to do with the merits of the candidate and everything to do with his race.

2. Just because the Pulitzer has recognized inferior candidates, should we stop recognizing singular contributions like Duke? Because 45 chose to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to hacks and low lifes like Limbaugh and Jordan, should we not recognize the next Marian Anderson, Pablo Casals, T.S. Elliot, or Walt Whitman?

Should we reject any and all such awards? Or, should we take a stand and go back to setting a high standard?

[Marinero]

"Should we reject any and all such awards? " Mark M

Hi, M,
Yes.
Marinero

[Mark M.]

"Should we reject any and all such awards? " Mark M

Hi, M,
Yes.
Marinero

Whew….that was meant as a rhetorical question. I respectfully disagree. We must recognize and celebrate exceptional examples of human spirit and achievement. We have to call out an hold up those that show exceptional courage and make the world a better place through their vision, leadership, and capacity to transform. Any other world is not worth living in.

[Litterick]

Why must we assume that he was denied the award because of race? As Howard Klein reported for The New York Times in 1965, “the advisory board for the Pulitzer Prizes rejected a unanimous recommendation from the music jury to award Duke Ellington, the jazz musician, composer and bandleader, a special citation for long-term achievement.” The Committee was required to recommend an award "for a distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year", but chose to ignore its responsibility.

We might also consider Ellington's music since his comeback at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival: film scores and late romantic compositions that were outdated as soon as they were written. The Pulitzer award was made for modern music. Look at the previous winners: Virgil Thomson, Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber and others, all of them composers of what we used to call serious music. Did the Committee give awards to Benny Goodman and Woody Herman? No. The first jazz award was not until 1997 (Wynton Marsalis, of course)

Besides, Ellington was given a posthumous award, in 1999. All this fuss is because of Ted Gioia grandstanding, and leaping on the bandwagon of historic injustice.

Meanwhile, the world is burning.

[oldane]

Dukes reaction to that rejection was typical for him: "I think The Good Lord don't want me to become famous too young." (He was 66 years at the time.)

[2bornot2bop]

All I’ll say is, musically speaking, most here couldn’t hold Duke’s jock strap. Screw the Pulitzer.

[Max405]

2b, I Love the famous Larry Holmes line (when used appropriately), like in this case.

I usually dont get involved in this kind of thing, But I couldn't resist.
Some of the greatest times of my life were spent with 3 or 4 extended family members of Duke Ellington. Because of them I was fortunate enough to play a number of times at the club the Duke made famous, the Cotton Club in Harlem. Not many people would have made it through the times the great Duke Ellington thrived in. Being introduced as the greatest composer of "Jungle Music" was backhand slap to a man who had more Talent, Courage, Class, Charisma and Elegance in one of his clipped fingernails than ANYONE in the entertainment business today. Pulitzer prizes are for the Hemingways, Micheners the Waulks and the Faulkners of their time. But the fact is, there is not an award ever bestowed that would be worthy of Duke himself. He has been gone 2 years longer than Elvis, almost 50 years. And just like with Elvis, the best thing we can do for him is continue to mention his name. And continue to enjoy his music.
No one should say anything bad about this legendary figure.
We should just Honor him.
JD

[2bornot2bop]

Extremely well said JD!

[Max405]

Thank You 2B.
And I think the honorary Doctor of Music he received from Yale University meant more to him anyway..
JD

[Marinero]

Whew….that was meant as a rhetorical question. I respectfully disagree. We must recognize and celebrate exceptional examples of human spirit and achievement. We have to call out an hold up those that show exceptional courage and make the world a better place through their vision, leadership, and capacity to transform. Any other world is not worth living in.

Hi, M,
In regards to the "exceptional achievement" of Kendrick . . . it is illustrative of the dumbing down of America and the worthlessness of the prize. Art represents the best and brightest of a civilization . . . Kendrick hardly qualifies. And, "Any other world(other than one with his rapping) is not worth living in?????" And, you wonder why the elites want to go to Mars????
Marinero

[Litterick]

I know nothing about the music of Kendrick Lamar, but I can see that was a good PR move. How many people knew Pulitzer gave awards for music?