Herman "Ivory" Chittison (October 15, 1908 – March 8, 1967) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist. He was born in

Flemingsburg, Kentucky Flemingsburg is a home rule-class city in Fleming County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 2,658 at the 2010 census, down from 3,010 at the 2000 census. It is the seat of Fleming County. Geography Flemingsburg is located no ...

, United States. Chittison began his career in

Zack Whyte Zack Whyte (sometimes spelled Zach Whyte) (1898 – March 10, 1967) was an American jazz bandleader, best known for leading the territory band the Chocolate Beau Brummels. Biography Whyte was born in 1898 in Richmond, Kentucky. He studied at Wilbe ...

's territory band in Ohio in 1928. In the early 1930s, he moved to New York and found work as an accompanist to

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her not ...

Adelaide Hall Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her long career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death and she was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hal ...

, and Clarence Williams. He also visited Boston for the first time with a traveling show headlined by comic actor

Stepin Fetchit Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black a ...

. In late 1933, he went to Europe with the

Willie Lewis William T. Lewis ''(né'' Willie Meria Tawlton Lewis; 10 June 1905 – 13 January 1971) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Career Lewis was born Cleburne, Texas, United States. He grew up in Dallas and played in variety shows as ...

Orchestra and toured Europe with them; the following year he recorded with

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

in Paris. He and Bill Coleman led the Harlem Rhythm Makers. Herman Chittison and trumpeter Bill Coleman left Lewis in 1938 and formed a band that worked extensively in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt, and traveled as far east as India. In October 1959, Chittison arrived in Boston and was employed as the resident pianist at the Red Garter bar in the Lenox Hotel. He then moved to the Mayfair Lounge in Bay Village. His stay in Boston lasted two years. Chittison had a reoccurring role as the piano player in the Blue Note Bar on the radio series, ''Casey, Crime Photographer''. Herman Chittison died in March 1967, at the age of 58.

References

American jazz pianists American male pianists People from Flemingsburg, Kentucky 1908 births 1967 deaths Jazz musicians from Kentucky 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-pianist-stub