Eddie Shu - Posthumous Movie Dispute

Posthumous Movie Dispute

Carol Shulman, Eddie's widow, filed suit against Andy Garcia, et. al in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming that he stole the identity of her late husband for the film, The Lost City. The film centers on a Cuban nightclub owner fleeing the country's oppressive regime for New York. Carol claimed that Eddie Shu was exiled from Cuba in 1958 — after Fidel Castro came into power — for exercising freedom of expression.

Music in the Cuba during the 1950s, was not booming, but as the Havana City mafia tried to emulate Las Vegas — show business grew with the construction of hotels and small night clubs where jazz was predominate. Renowned international jazz stars performed in Havana City: Cab Calloway, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Dean Martin, Benny Goodman, and Frank Sinatra.

Success of Armando de Sequeira Romeu's house band at the Tropicana Club helped the club build the reputation as the Cuban Jazz Center. In 1957 a group of musicians, disc jockeys and Jazz fans joined in Havana City to exchange experiences with North American musicians. The main venues were Havana 1900 and the Tropicana. Funds collected were used by the Jazz Cuban Club to bring jazz musicians to the island, musicians that included Kenny Drew, Eddie Shu, and Philly Joe Jones.