Music and Audio
Listen to Hazel Scott
Rising Sun Music - “Peace of Mind”
Transcribed from the original Hazel Scott recording in 1955, Lara Downes releases “Peace of Mind” as part of a larger album titled Phenomenal Women. The project, Rising Sun Music, highlights music by Black composers over the past 200 years.
When Women Invented Television
Produced by NPR
Author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong tells Scott Simon about four visionary women who were behind early hit TV shows. Her new book is When Women Invented Television.
Music Samples
The Chronological Classics: Hazel Scott 1939-1945 (Melodie Jazz Classics)
Hazel Scott used this swing rendition of the classical Rachmaninoff composition for her Juilliard audition.
Round Midnight (Decca)
As her style mellowed over the years, Hazel Scott relinquished her use of fast tempos, the percussive left hand and whimsical right. She demonstrates her ability to convey tremendous emotion and beauty through her use of space and lush chordal voicing on this Thelonius Monk classic.
Relaxed Piano Moods (Debut)
In 1956, Hazel Scott collaborated with bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach on this Debut label. The album Relaxed Piano Moods marked a shift in Scott’s career. The recording is now part of National Public Radio's Basic Jazz Library.
The Notes From Her Podcast Celebrates Hazel Scott’s 100th Birthday During Black Lives Matter Series
Notes From Her is the podcast that encourages women and others to embrace their inner multicultural melody, created and hosted by Xochitl Hernandez. One of the ways this podcast accomplishes this is by interviewing women of color musicians (also known as) women MOCs (musicians of color) to engage in storytelling and discuss music, culture, and social issues amongst other topics. As a podcast dedicated to empowering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) women, Notes From Her is having an interruption to its usual podcast style to report on the Black Lives Matter Movement. This is a special episode which brings together Notes From Her’s Black Lives Matter series and interviews with MOCs where Xochitl celebrates MOC Hazel Scott with a blast-from-the-past interview.
What America Means To Me
Produced by WNYC Archives
Transcript:
“What does America mean to me? My name is Hazel Scott and I’m going to try to tell you in so many words what America means to me. It’s not going to be easy because the things you feel most deeply are the ones you never can talk about. I’m an American by choice - and I’ll tell you what I mean by that. I came here when I was four years old. When I was old enough to know my own mind, I decided that there was no other place in the world that I could enjoy. So many things that I enjoy in America. When you see me, because I am a negro, you automatically think, what does she think of Jim Crow and racial prejudice in this our America? I think that Jim Crow doesn't belong anywhere in this country of ours. I also think that we are the ones that can talk about it because we are the ones to who it happened. I’ll tell you something else that I think about America. I think America is as big and as strong as it’s weakest point. And I think that as a negro it is our duty to speak up against injustice because it is up to a negro to be the conscience of this great land of ours. We can not advocate for people in other lands what we don’t have here. America is great because we are allowed to speak our minds and to say exactly what we think. We don’t always agree with each other in this country of ours, but we have the right to disagree. America is a great land for so many reasons - and the chief reason for I think, is the freedom to worship God in any manner that you may choose. When a bigot faces the person whom he would defend, he cannot possibly recite the lyrics of The Star Spangled Banner. Bigots don’t belong in this country. It’s too great for them. It’s too good for them. So let’s take care of them in our own way, in our own time. I believe that this country is the greatest place in the world to raise children. I have a son who’s four years and a half old. I want him to grow up one day to find that this country of ours, which has improved so much in the last hundred years, will be improving all the more, all the time. Someday I hope that he will see, even if I don’t see it, all racial prejudices eliminated - as one remove a cancer from the body of a loved one in order to prolong his life. I love America. I’m glad I’m a citizen of America. I would live nowhere else.”
Hazel Scott: Jazz star and barrier breaker
Produced by BBC World Service
Hazel Scott’s story is told by biographer Karen Chilton, Director of the National Jazz Mueseum Loren Schoenberg and playwright Murray Horwitz. This podcasts also features music samples of Hazel Scott’s work.
Hazel Scott on Panio Jazz
Produced by NPR Music
Originally aired in 1980, this NPR broadcast features an interview with Hazel Scott.
The Big Broadcast: Celebrating Hazel Scott with son Adam Clayton Powell III
Produced by WAMU 88.5
Hazel Scott’s son Adam Clayton Powell III, reflects on his mother’s legacy to celebrate her 100th birthday.
