Presence of a Genius

Welcome to Who was she? Podcast. I am your host, Tara Jabbari. After a decade working in documentaries, marketing and all things digital media, I found that podcasting is a strong medium to share stories and after years of producing for others, I decided to start my own biographical podcast. 

Who was she? Podcast will focus on the stories of women throughout history that were active in the Baha’i Faith. This season is about an incredible and often overlooked talented musician, and activist, Hazel Scott.

Born on the northwest coast of Trinidad on June 11th, 1920, she was the fifth child of Alma Long Scott and R. Thomas Scott but was the first child to survive beyond a few months. Two years later, her mother gave birth to a baby boy who tragically died soon after. The loss of her sibling was one of Hazel’s earliest memories. Alma would tell Hazel, “You are alive for some reason. Only God knows why you alone were spared.” Therefore, Hazel felt a lot of pressure having said, “I always tried to be a super-duper kid…to make up to her for the children that didn’t make it.” 

Her father, Thomas Scott was of West African heritage but had been raised in Scotland and educated in England. He was well read and fluent in several languages including a few Chinese dialects. Her father believed that the progress of black people was related to academic achievement. 

Her mother was a talented musician, particularly as a classical pianist. Her parents married young, Alma being only 17 at the time and her father forever in search of a better academic career was often travelling away from his family. Alma, therefore, was left working hard at home. She finally secured her first solo classical concert in Port of Spain but live performances took a toll. Alma found that her wrists were too weak to sustain concerts. In order to pay the bills and fulfill her love of music, she taught piano lessons to neighborhood children. 

Hazel’s maternal grandmother, Margaret was a big presence in her life. She would watch after Hazel while her father lived abroad and her mother worked in music. It was also Margaret who discovered Hazel’s unique talent: the ability to play music after just hearing it. 

Oftentimes, when trying to get Hazel to take a nap, Margaret would sing a hymn but she would fall asleep rather than Hazel. Little Hazel would then go to the piano and start playing the keyboards to match her grandmother's hymn. This would wake Margaret up who at first thought there was a break-in only to discover three-year-old Hazel trying to play the hymn through the piano! 

Soon, the family would have Hazel play for the neighborhood to entertain and show her natural talent of picking up melodies by ear and playing almost perfectly. 

Eventually, Alma and Margaret decided to leave Trinidad and move to New York City where Margaret’s eldest daughter, Lilla already was. Margaret left first and after a year of savings, she was able to pay for Hazel and Alma to come over. 

On Hazel’s fourth birthday, June 11th, 1924, she and her mother boarded the Maraval. On the boat over, while Alma slept in their room among the middle class, Hazel snuck off and walked around the ship on her own. She found the piano and played for the captain and a small crowd. Alma woke to find her daughter missing and eventually found her entertaining the upper class. She was amused and enjoyed the attention her daughter was getting with her talents. 

When they arrived to America, they moved into Lilla’s home off West 118th Street. Harlem would become a diverse aggregate of black people, from the South to the Caribbeans and West Indies and the languages she would hear was a mix of Puerto Rican Spanish, Haitian French, British and Dutch-accented English, to name a few. 

Hazel’s father, Thomas lived in New York around this time as well. His visits were few but when he did come to see his daughter, they would stroll through Parks and the Bronx Zoo. He also took her to marches and speeches including at least one by activist, Marcus Garvey.

Garvey’s speech made a big impression on Hazel who was only five years old when she saw him. In a speech where he cried out, “I am a man!” and the audience, including Thomas were cheering on, Hazel asked her father why people applauded something so obvious. Thomas responded, “That’s just it, my child I’m afraid there are people who cannot see that he is a man.”

Another one of their outings was when Thomas took them to see Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in the hopes that it would inspire his young daughter to become a lawyer. It didn’t go as planned, Hazel shared, “I came out and announced that I was gonna be an actress. I saw the expression on his face. He hated the thought of my being involved with anything to do with performing, and showing yourself to the public.”  

While her father had dreams of Hazel being a lawyer, her mother saw that Hazel truly had a gift and thought she could be a great musician. 

When Hazel was eight years old, Alma took her to the prestigious Julliard School to audition. The pre-requisite for entry was sixteen but that did not deter Alma. She encouraged Hazel and had her practice in preparation. The school was puzzled at why this eight-year-old was there but when Hazel played a piece by Rachmaninoff, Professor Oscar Wagnore was heard whispering, “I am in the presence of a genius.” He agreed with Alma that Hazel needed to attend Julliard and he took her on as a private pupil. They would work together for ten years. Hazel started attending public school by day then Julliard for music lessons at night. She became one of the youngest people and one of the few African Americans to have enrolled in the school. 

At the same time, Alma started playing the saxophone to be easier on her ailing hands. That meant she had to learn more jazz music than classical. She performed in clubs and bands to support the family, including joining  Lil Hardin Armstrong, wife of the famous trumpet player, Louis Armstrong’s band. As a teenager, Hazel surprised them at one of the venues at the Apollo Theater in Harlem coming to sing on stage. While many were impressed, Alma was more critical and made sure Hazel learned the classics before jumping straight into jazz. She knew that her dream of Hazel becoming a successful musician was about to come true. 

In the next episode of Who was she? we learn about the rise of Hazel Scott, now a vivacious teenager who hung around the likes of Billie Holiday, Art Tatum, Lester Young and other prominent jazz musicians, and how she grew to be quote, “ the Darling of Cafe Society.” 

You can also find more information on our Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest @whowasshe podcast. And please, rate and subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast. Who was she was produced, written and edited by me, Tara Jabbari. Script editor is Angela Musacchio. Original music was composed and performed by Sam Redd. Resource material includes two biographies on Hazel, one written by Karen Chilton, published by The University of Michigan Press and written by Susan Engle published by The Baha'i Publishing Trust, U.S.