Hilton Ruiz
Hilton Ruiz (born May 29, 1952 in New York City , † June 6, 2006 in New Orleans ) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He integrated Afro-Cuban elements into creative jazz .
Live and act
Ruiz comes from a Puerto Rican family and took piano lessons from an early age. At the age of eight he gave a solo concert in New York's Carnegie Recital Hall . It was only later that he began to deal with popular Latin music and initially played in salsa bands from the age of thirteen . From 1971 he received free lessons from Mary Lou Williams , who made him familiar with the jazz piano and its history. He then played with Cal Massey , Freddie Hubbard , Joe Henderson and Frank Foster . As early as 1973 he worked for Clark Terry , Jackie McLean , Charles Mingus and again and again for Rahsaan Roland Kirk . He also played with Betty Carter , Archie Shepp , Chico Freeman , Marion Brown , Dizzy Gillespie and Don Cherry . From 1993 he worked again with Tito Puente .
On his album Piano Man (1975) he showed conclusively how the Latin variety can be incorporated into a new, integrated piano jazz. Numerous other albums followed.
His composition "Something Grand" was part of the soundtrack of the film American Beauty . As a lecturer, he worked for various institutions and also wrote textbooks.
Hilton Ruiz died of a fall in May 2006.
Discography
- Piano Man (1975, with Buster Williams and Billy Higgins )
- Manhattan Mambo (1992, with Papo Vázquez and David Sánchez )
- Excitation (1993)
- Hands on Percussion (1994)
- Island Eyes (1997)
- Enchantment (2003)
Lexigraphic entries
- Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
- Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ruiz, Hilton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz pianist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 29, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 6, 2006 |
| Place of death | New Orleans |