Letman played early in his career in midwest bands, including those of Jerry Valentine, Scatman Crothers, and Jimmy Raschelle.
Moving to Chicago in the middle of the 1930s, he worked with Delbert Bright, Bob Tinsley, Johnny Lang, Nat King Cole (1938), Horace Henderson (1941–42), and Red Saunders (1942).
[2] He spent a year or so in Detroit, playing with Teddy Buckner and John Kirby, then moved to New York City in 1944.
[2] His credits there included Phil Moore, Lucky Millinder (1945), Cab Calloway (1947–49), Milt Buckner, and Count Basie (1951).
[2] He worked both in and outside of jazz music, and his associations in these decades include Joe Thomas, Stuff Smith, Chubby Jackson, Panama Francis, Dick Wellstood, Hal Singer, Sam Taylor, Eddie Condon, Wilbur De Paris, and Claude Hopkins.