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Hazel Scott




She was born in Port Of Spain , Trinidad And Tobago on June 11 , 1920 and raised in New York City from the age of four. She performed extensively on Piano as a child, then trained at the Juilliard School . She appeared in the production ''Priorities of 1942'' and played twice at the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City. Her motion picture career included the following films: ''Something To Shout About'', ''I Dood It'', ''Broadway Melody'', ''The Heat's On'', and ''Rhapsody in Blue''.

She was known for improvising on classical themes and also played Bebop , Blues , and ballads. She was the first African American woman to have her own television show, "The Hazel Scott Show". However, she publicly opposed McCarthyism and Racial Segregation , and the show was cancelled in 1950 when she was accused of being a Communist sympathizer.

Her most successful recording was "Tico Tico." Her album ''Relaxed Piano Moods'', with Charles Mingus and Max Roach , is the album most highly regarded by critics today.

She was married to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. from 1945 to 1956 , by whom she had one child before their divorce.

She died of cancer at the age of 61 on October 2 , 1981 in New York City .