Hutch

This biography examines the life of the West Indian singer-pianist Leslie Hutchinson who achieved international stardom and riches in the 1920s and 1930s.

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Born in Grenada in 1900, Leslie Hutchinson went to America in 1916 to study medicine, but soon escaped to Harlem where he witnessed the birth of "stride" jazz piano. Moving to France in 1923, he became the protege and lover of Cole Porter before coming to London in 1926 where he was soon topping the bills in variety and on radio. Immaculate in white tie and tails, Hutch had enormous sex appeal, his velvet voice and superb piano improvisation attracting legions of fans among both the rich and the slump-struck poor. Despite his success however, Hutch was a profoundly insecure man with insatiable appetites for sex, drink, gambling and social status which precipitated his fall from fame to a squalid existence by the late 1960s. This book provides a detailed look at his interesting life.