Hilton Ruiz – a brilliant pianist equally skilled in Latin and jazz styles. A child prodigy, Ruiz was classically trained from a very young age. He appeared at Carnegie Hall at the age of 8. He took extensive lessons from pianist Mary Lou Williams. Williams was one of the most respected female musicians in jazz, and one of the great stride piano stylists to influence Ruiz during his formative years. He also had an important association with blind jazz saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, playing on his final albums before his untimely death. Ruiz has gigged and recorded with many of the top musicians in Latin music and jazz. The downtown New York club The Village Gate in the 70’s and 80’s would hold salsa meets Jazz shows every week. This helped create an atmosphere that helped introduce Hilton Ruiz and other young musicians to the public. Ruiz and others were well versed in both Latin and Jazz styles reinterpreting classics to a fresh audience. In the 90’s Ruiz’s recordings used the finest musicians in Latin jazz who would go on to form their own bands and whose influence, like the jazz greats of the 50’s is being felt today.