They later moved to the island's capital, Kingston, then the United States to study, leaving Chester and his siblings with relatives.
[1][n 1] 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; in 1950, he joined Trinity College of Music 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.
Performing for eight years as Harriott and Evans, a variety act, they travelled to Paris, 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 from 1967.