“I believe devoutly in the beauty and significance of jazz, and I love Ornette Coleman’s bold, innovative music. But by giving the Pulitzer Prize to a good-but-not-great album that doesn’t even pretend to meet its eligibility requirements, the board has debased the value of the music prize still further. As for the special award, why single out Coltrane now, great as he was? Why not Charlie Parker–or Louis Armstrong, for that matter? It’s hard not to wonder whether the board is trying to atone for past blunders by playing an arbitrary game of catch-up.”