Blood on the Fields

Blood on the Fields is a three and half hour jazz "oratorio," although he did not use this term, by Wynton Marsalis. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center and concerns a couple moving from slavery to freedom. It received the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Music. However, Marsalis' victory was controversial because according to the Pulitzer guidelines, his work was not eligible. Although a winning work was supposed to have had its first performance during that year, Marsalis' piece premiered on April 1, 1994 and