Via JazzTimes.com, a follow-up on the unresolved death of pianist Hilton Ruiz:
[T]he Associated Press reports that Ruiz’s family believes the pianist was attacked by several people in Club Utopia, while bouncers “failed to intervene in any meaningful fashion” or call an ambulance, leaving the injured pianist “abandoned” on the street. The pianist’s daughter Aida Ruiz filed a negligence lawsuit against Club Utopia.
This parallels the experience of a young man I met in Istanbul, who had been slashed in the face with a broken bottle by some yahoo in a club/restaurant on Istiklal. The club proprietors responded by blaming the victim, ejecting him from the premises and refusing to call for emergency assistance. This fellow sat on the curb, bleeding profusely, until a passing stranger intervened. He received excellent medical care. But he’ll go through life with a severe 6-inch scar from his ear to the bottom of his jaw.
Hilton Ruiz, on the other hand, lost his life. I’ve just been listening to his final recorded performance, on Ray Barretto’s Standards Rican-ditioned (ZoHo Music). It’s breathtaking, and for that very reason, deeply upsetting.
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