Chester Leroy Harriott (24 February 1933 – 4 July 2013) was a Jamaican-born pianist and entertainer known for his eight years as one part of the

variety act Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

Harriott and Evans.

Life

Harriott was born in St Thomas,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, the son of a doctor's assistant, Oscar Harriott, and his wife, Minna, (née Powell), a teacher. They later moved to the island's capital, Kingston, then the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to study, leaving Chester and his siblings with relatives. A gifted pianist from a young age, he appeared on local radio stations and followers set up a fund for him to study in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

; in 1950, he joined

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

and while there met Arthur Bennett, who taught him modern music. Through that connection, Harriott was introduced to the nightclub scene in central London, playing at the Langham Club for the likes of

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

. Throughout the early 1950s, he performed at Gateways, a pioneering lesbian club in Chelsea, as well as the Mandrake Club in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

and the Sunset Club, where he performed alongside the celebrated jazz saxophonist

Joe Harriott Joseph Arthurlin Harriott (15 July 1928 – 2 January 1973) was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone. Initially a bebopper, he became a pioneer of free-form jazz. Born in Kingston, Harriott ...

. After finishing at Trinity, he partnered up with John Porter to form a double-act, but soon switched to form a lasting duo with Victor Brown. Performing for eight years as Harriott and Evans, a variety act, they travelled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, toured and sold 50,000 copies of one album. In 1962, they parted ways and Harriott carried on performing solo before working for

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

from 1967. He opened a restaurant called Truffles in 1985 and retired from performing following an illness in the late-1990s. He outlived his first wife, Petronia, and later married a magician called Claudine. Harriott died on 4 July 2013 aged eighty years. He had five children, including the television chef

Ainsley Harriott Ainsley Denzil Dubriel Harriott (born 28 February 1957) is an English chef and television presenter. He is known for his BBC cooking game shows ''Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' and ''Ready Steady Cook''. Early life Harriott was born in Paddingto ...

References

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Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harriott, Chester 1933 births 2013 deaths Jamaican jazz pianists Jamaican jazz singers Alumni of Trinity College of Music