The Darling of Cafe Society

Welcome, I am your host, Tara Jabbari. 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 Hazel Scott, a talented musician, and activist. 

In the previous episode, we learned about Hazel’s early life. After being born in Trinidad she relocated to New York City at age four. By eight years old, she was one of the youngest students enrolled at Julliard, being trained as a pianist. Her mother, Alma was working hard as a saxophonist for bands and performing at the famous Harlem Apollo Theater, Hazel was also gaining a lot of attention. 

She said, “Overnight, I had become a slender, provocative creature.” Hazel was now a teenager and all the boys and men took notice of her voluptuous figure. 

One particular night, when Hazel was fifteen, she was playing with a swing band. Surrounded by several men, Hazel decided to flirtatiously play up her age and lied saying she was eighteen. Hazel said, “Then I heard a scream that was absolutely primeval. A roar came out of the shadows where Lady Day (also known as Billie Holiday) was crouching - ‘You lying little heifer!’ I took off and Lady took off after me, with one shoe in her hand. She chased me down the street, through the cars, and into the subway.” “‘You’re not going to tell my mother are you?’ I asked. She replied, “Tell her? I’m going to sit there and watch her knock you down!.’”

By this time, Thomas, Hazel’s father had died. Fortunately, Hazel still had her mother and grandmonther and their home was known as quote, “a mecca for musicians” where many of Alma’s friends would come over, especially when they were visiting from a tour. These artist became Hazel’s extended family..with Pianist, Art Tatum as a father figure, saxophonist, Lester Young an uncle and of course, singer, Billie Holiday was a big sister to Hazel. These were only a few of the influential people of music that would frequently visit her home. 

As she grew older, Hazel started to perform as a singer and of course a pianist. She became known for her syncopating classical style, where she would play classical, swing, and inventive jazz spontaneously. 

By the time she was eighteen, Hazel was known as “the glamorous darling of Harlem”. Her days and nights were full, despite having finished her studies with Professor Wagner at Julliard. She would get up early for school at Wadleigh High, take a quick nap in the afternoon before working in night clubs. Despite all her responsibilities being the primary breadwinner for her family, Hazel did graduate from high school with honors. She was making one hundred dollars a week which today, would make it about eighteen hundred dollars. 

In early 1939, a new club opened in Harlem called Cafe Society. On opening night, Billie Holiday sang, “Strange Fruit.” Based on a poem by Abel Meeropool,under his pseudonym, Lewis Allan, it was about the brutal lynching of a black man in the South. The club stopped serving food and drinks during the performance. The haunting lyrics combined with Billie’s unmistakable voice brought the whole club to tears. 

Unlike other clubs at the time where black musicians played primarily for white patrons, this club was based on equality and diversity which made it like no other club in New York City at the time. Journalist and promoter, Helen Lawrenson wrote, “From the beginning, it was completely integrated: black and white performers, black and white patrons. This had never happened before…”

The club had become a haven for the famous. You would see writer and activist, Langston Hughes, politician, Nelson Rockefeller, and First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt among the audience having lively conversations on art and politics. 

When Billie Holiday couldn’t perform at Cafe Society, she recommend Hazel Scott. Hazel grew in popularity fast at Cafe Society and her salary grew to $1,500 a week, which is equivalent to more than $27,500 today. She was billed as, “the Darling of Cafe Society.”

By 1940, Hazel recorded her first solo album,  Swinging the Classics: Piano Solos in Swing Style with Drums which broke sales records that year. When it came to touring, Hazel was adamant that she would only play in places that did not segregate. That meant fewer cities and less money but Hazel was strong in her beliefs in equality even if the rest of the country was not. 

In 1942, Hazel was introduced to Hollywood. She had seen how the industry kept black actor roles as a maid, butler, servant or the fool. She vowed she would not portray those. Her contracts had a clause that gave her final approval from her music to her wardrobe. She also did not want to be playing a character, her credits would read, “Hazel Scott as herself.” 

Hazel was a big success in the film and music industry. Then came the strike that would end her time in Hollywood. During the production of The Heat’s On, there was a scene where women wearing aprons would say goodbye to their sweethearts who are soldiers going off to war. Choreographer, David Lichine was working out the scene but thought the aprons looked too clean so he requested to dirty them up. 

This angered Hazel who said, “Am I to understand that these young women are to see their sweethearts off to war, wearing dirty Hoover aprons?” Lichine answered, “What do you care? You’re beautifully dressed. What’s it to you?” This began a screaming match and all work had stopped. He stubbornly wouldn’t change the wardrobe and she would refuse to be involved in a film that would display black women wearing dirty aprons when they are about to send their men to die for their country. 

Lichine complained to Harry Cohn, president of Columbia Pictures while Hazel staged a three-day strike on set. She declared, “Until my fight at Columbia, no Black person had ever dared oppose the Establishment. You either kept your mouth shut and took the roles you could get or you remained out of work.”

The final cut showed the women wearing beautiful dresses but there was still a lot of money and time lost which did not please the producers. However, she was told Cohn was intrigued by her. Then a few actresses warned her, “If you refuse him, you will have made a terrible enemy! He’s made no secret of his feelings for you. You might just be through in this town if you refuse him!” 

Hazel’s patience with Hollywood had run out, she wanted to leave immediately and she learned of Cohn’s response, he promised, “(Hazel Scott) will never set foot in another movie studio as long as I live.” From then on, all scripts and offers disappeared. She later wrote, “It is not that I object to having had to give up my Hollywood career - although it was productive. The loss of my burgeoning career was a small price to pay for my self respect…There was never, and there could never be enough money in the world to compensate for the loss of one’s dignity.” 

While one door closed, another opened. She would soon meet a man that would change her life forever, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. We will learn about the activist and politician plus their blossoming relationship in the next episode. 

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.