Jazz clubs to dim lights Sunday in tribute to Hicks, Ruiz

In the world of professional theater, there's a tradition that when a well-known actor, director, playwright or impresario dies, the lights of all the theaters on Broadway are dimmed at a specific time as a tribute. Now Lois Gilbert of Jazzcorner.com is trying to start a similar tradition for jazz musicians, beginning this Sunday with a tribute intended to honor the late John Hicks, the jazz pianist and former St. Louisan who died last month, and to "send healing thoughts" to pianist Hilton Ruiz, who currently is comatose in a New Orleans hospital after suffering severe injuries in a recent fall.

To pay tribute to Hicks and Ruiz, jazz clubs across the country are being asked to dim their lights for one minute beginning at 9 p.m. local time this Sunday, June 4. A news release about the tribute has been widely circulated online via jazz news sites like All About Jazz and eJazz News, and critic Stanley Crouch also took up the cause (and had a few more words about Hicks) in his New York Daily News column this week. According to the release, venues including Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, The Iridium, and the Village Vanguard, all in NYC, and Yoshi's and Jazz at Pearl's in the San Francisco Bay Area will be honoring the two artists on Sunday night, and some jazz radio stations will be playing music by Hicks and Ruiz in observance of the event.

There's also a more conventional memorial service for Hicks planned for earlier on Sunday at St. Peter's Church in NYC. A jam session, likely just the first of a series of benefits for Ruiz, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 6 at the NYC club LQ's, and a recovery fund has been set up to help Ruiz and his family.

Of course, many of our St. Louis jazz venues are dark on Sunday nights anyway, but it would sure be a nice gesture if the few spots that do feature live jazz music on Sundays, such as Brandt's, Riddles and Boogaloo, would take a minute this weekend to honor Hicks and Ruiz.