NEW ORLEANS, May 25 (UPI) -- Renowned jazz pianist and composer Hilton Ruiz was hospitalized in critical condition Thursday in New Orleans with injuries suffered in a fall.
His wife, Aida Ruiz, told the New Orleans Times-Picayne her husband had traveled from New York to New Orleans Thursday.
The Afro-Cuban jazz master was in the Big Easy to make a video for a Hurricane Katrina benefit CD and was apparently injured when he tripped and fell Friday.
The recipient of numerous awards, including the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, Ruiz turns 54 on Monday.
In addition to composing for movies, Ruiz has played on more than 500 albums with such industry luminaries as Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Chico Freeman and Marion Brown, among others.
