Picture of Hazel Scott

Hazel Scott was born on June 11, 1920 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and died on October 2, 1981. She was born in Port of Spain but moved to New York with her mom at the age of 4. She was considered a musical prodigy at an early age and was given a scholarship at the age of 8 to study classical piano at Juilliard. She played piano and trumpet with her mom’s all girl jazz band called “Alma Long Scott”. By the time she was 16 she performed on different radio programs for the Mutual Broadcasting System. She performed at different nightclubs like Café Society throughout the 1930s. She was the first African American woman to have her own show which was shown on the DuMont Television Network. She also performed as herself in several different movies including Rhapsody in Blue and Something to Shout About.