TD3 said:

Harlepolis said:

How come?

I went through a phase of semi-obsession with female black pianists, I was on a mission to find out about their music. Her, Mary Lou Williams, Hadda Brooks, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone, Camille Howard and the most mysterious of 'em all, Margaret Johnson(The pianist behind Billie Holiday's first recording of "The Very Thought of You" and the rest of the songs she recorded in that date).

The reason why she's a mystery is because there was this controversy among Jazz historians about who played in that date, some said it was Count Basie billed under a different name due to contractual issues, others said that it was indeed Ms.Johnson, either way the whole thing sparked my interest

Ms. Scott made Lena Horn look like a Pacfiist. Like Ms. Horn and Ms. Kitt, she paid a very high price for her outspokeness. If was a tuff read to know of the humiliation, the brutal racism, and sexism she endured. I really don't think she would've played jazz professionally if she had the opportunity to be a classical pianist. The marriage to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was a big mistake and when the US goverment couldn't get to Powell Jr. just yet ( our goverment accused her being a communist because she had been speaking and protesting for Black Civil Rights befor a movement started) they went after her, it was brutal. Ms. Scott made the mistake of thinking Powell's "power" would protect her. She had to leave the country, she had been white-balled, she left on her ass, and she came back the same way. Tragic . . . I'm getting pissed now.

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[Edited 2/12/11 0:50am]

Oh that! She could've been the first black woman to host her own TV show had it not been for that ordeal. The first time I heard of that was through this film...

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If that book pissed you off, stay away from this film Its disgusting how McCarthyism ended the livelihood of many people(and some scenarios, their lives), that portion of our history showed how cowardly our "fear & smear" system was,,,,and still is, in some cases.

The upside of Ms.Scott's story though was that she never let anybody rob her off her pride through the process, she enjoyed a big & loyal following in France(where she lived) who treated with the respect USA never did, even when she was at her prime and basically she put out her sign and went there.

And I really admired the way she stood up against the US media in the early 60s where they tried to use her to tarnish the image of Mr.Powell Jr. when he was going through his own mess then. She could've used that moment to revive her career at the time, but instead she gave them the fuck you sign again in her own classy way(unlike the many triflin' has beens walking around nowadays who won't think twice to disclose any personal infos about their ex-spouses in a poor attempt to get the wheels in motions to revive their own careers) I'm sure her being uncooperative with them didn't help any. Reading her story though, its evident that she was a REAL woman in every sense of the word and she didn't die on her knees, that in itself is an accomplishment esp when this country(and her field) showed nothing but contempt against black women who had the spine, the heart and the mouth to "talk back".

[Edited 2/12/11 2:26am]

i would love to see this film, and read that book.

The publishers of this series (irrespective of genre) do a good of documentating the most obscure information about artist/musician discography. For those who like Harle have a passion of this stuff. I saw "Hollywood on Trial in 1976" and that was enough. Ms. Scott, a couple of failed suicide attempts (tho' she died of cancer) they eventually broke her.

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[Edited 2/12/11 16:16pm]

TD3 said:

The publishers of this series (irrespective of genre) does a good of documentating the most obscure information about artist/musician discography. For those who like Harle have a passion of this stuff. I saw "Hollywood on Trial in 1976" and that was enough. Ms. Scott, a couple of suicide attempts (tho' she died of cancer) they eventually broke her.

thanks for the information!