Black Quotidian: Everyday History in African-American Newspapers

March 30, 1942

On March 30, 1942, the Atlanta Daily World ran a story about a Broadway production called “Priorities of 1942.” Dolores Calvin, the articles’ author and theater editor for the black-owned Calvin Newspaper Service, was particular excited that the performance “brought out our own Hazel Scott, boogie-woogie pianist and signer, as the star of the show.”  Calvin continued, “Miss Hazel Scott does some fascinating and exhilarating things with the white piano. As nite-clubbers know, Hazel is among the authentic artists and is only 21 years old...Hazel is the only colored girl in the cast and the audience gave her a big hand when she came out looking gorgeous and youthful.“ Calvin noted that “'Priorities of 1942’ fills a big demand for war nerves” and “might well make vaudeville pretty popular again.”

In 1943, Hazel Scott had a small role in the musical film The Heat’s On. Here she is in that film playing two pianos at the same time.

To learn more about Hazel Scott, see Karen Chilton’s Hazel Scott: The Pioneering Journey of a Jazz Pianist, from Café Society to Hollywood to HUAC.

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