[2] Born in Gouyave, Grenada, in 1900, when it was part of the British Windward Islands, to George Hutchinson and Marianne (née Turnbull),[3] Hutch took piano lessons as a child.

In New York City, Hutch joined a black band led by Henry "Broadway" Jones, who often played for white millionaires such as the Vanderbilts, attracting the wrath of the Ku Klux Klan.

[4] Encouraged by Edwina Mountbatten, he moved to England and opened at the Café de Paris in London on 19 January 1927 as part of a double act with his friend, the black tenor Opal Cooper.

[10] He had moved from the Café de Paris to another London club, Chez Victor, in February 1927 (this time without Cooper)[11] and after an extended spell there, he transferred to the Devonshire Restaurant in November 1927.

Hutch was "one of the first stars in Britain" to volunteer to entertain the troops at home and abroad during World War II, but he received no formal recognition for his service, and his name would never appear in any Honours list.

[13] On 12 October 2012, an English Heritage blue plaque in commemoration of Hutch was unveiled by his daughter Gabrielle Markes at 31 Steele's Road, Belsize Park, his home from 1929 to 1967.

[22] In November 2016, Hutch was featured in episode four of the BBC series Black and British: A Forgotten History, titled The Homecoming, presented by historian David Olusoga.

On the occasion of the programme, a plaque was unveiled by two of his children, Gabrielle and her half-brother Chris, in the presence of extended family at Mayfair restaurant Quaglino's, where he used to perform later in his career.