More than 40 years ago, a young performer named Izzy Chait could be heard accompanying barroom pianists throughout Westwood.
A lifelong lover of singing, Chait, now 65, returned to performing about 12 years ago after a 25-year hiatus, during which he established and maintained a career in the dealing and auctioning of antiques, eventually opening his own shop: I.M. Chait Gallery in Beverly Hills.
Throughout the passing years, however, his love of music,which he said was instilled by his mother at an early age, never faded. His success in business would afford him the chance to rekindle that love.
“I said to myself, ‘I really like this, I’ve got a good day job,’ and that gives me the freedom and access to fund another career,” Chait said. He has now recorded multiple albums, one of which earned him consideration for a Grammy.
“We were raised fairly Orthodox Jewish and my mother wanted me to be a canter or a rabbi, if I couldn’t be a doctor, so she got me into the choir at Etz Jacob Congregation,” Chait said.
He sang in the choir from the ages of 10 to 12, but it was only when he found himself “thumbing around” Los Angeles after graduating from high school that he discovered his talent for performing, said Chait. Unsure of what he wanted to do in life, Chait said he began hanging out in L.A. bars, befriending pianists who would, after they discovered he could sing, allow him to sit in with them. Things were going well for the young singer, who said he quickly found that he could make a decent living off splitting the tip jar from these barroom performances.
These days were short-lived, as Chait was soon called up to serve in the Marines during the Vietnam War. Overseas, Chait continued to perform. In 1966, he was asked to sing at a club in Chu Lai and would do so until he left Vietnam in 1967.
Returning home from the war, Chait began the next chapter in his life, one that brought him to the hills of Westwood.
“I wanted to go to school, because that’s what every nice boy should do – go to college. My parents wanted me to go to UCLA, so I did,” Chait said.
While a student, Chait sang in bars with some of the same musicians he had become friends with before his time in the service. Having grown up listening to standards and iconic vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Billy Eckstine, Chait said it was easy for him to simply jump in on performances. While Chait recalls this time fondly, he said he was still forced to give up performing in order to focus on studying anthropology and ethnomusicology.
“When you go to school, you actually have to be able to get up in the morning and go to class,” Chait said. “I was hanging out in these bars until one or two o’clock in the morning and people were buying me drinks all night long. It became a lifestyle that became incompatible with getting an education.”
Chait said his study of anthropology and his time in Vietnam and Southeast Asia resulted in a fascination with Asian art and culture, which lead to Chait’s love for the purchase and sale of antiquities. After graduating cum laude from UCLA in the winter of 1970, he decided to be a merchant and opened up a small shop on Melrose Avenue. Chait said time flew by working at his antique store, and before he knew it, he had not performed in 25 years, which he said was the biggest mistake of his life.
Bandmate and violinist Scarlet Rivera, known for her work with Bob Dylan as part of the Rolling Thunder Review, said that if not singing for 25 years negatively affected Chait’s singing talent, it doesn’t show.
“If I didn’t know he had not been performing all this time, I wouldn’t be able to tell,” Rivera said. “He has this charisma, and audiences love him. He’s a true performer.”
Chait said getting back into music was a slow process. It began by forming a family band with his wife and children and performing at his childrens’ school.
“I felt like I had to take it to the next level though,” Chait said.
It wasn’t long after that when he got together with Howard McCreary, who, at the time, was the brother-in-law of Chaka Khan. They set up shop at Chaka’s studio in Burbank, Calif. and began recording Chait’s first studio album, “Once Upon a Time.”
“Next thing I knew my songs were playing on 250 radio stations throughout the country and the album was doing really well,” Chait said. “I thought, ‘I’ve found a new niche for me,’ and I haven’t stopped since.”
Chait’s guitarist Don Peake, a current UCLA Extension lecturer in the department of ethnomusicology and former guitarist for Ray Charles, said he shared a similar sentiment, but said he views Chait’s age as an advantage. Peake said that he believes that his friend simply skipped to his golden years.
“Because (Chait)’s been around, when he sings a song, he gets it; he’s been there,” Peake said. “I’ve played with Ray Charles and some of the greats, and Izzy really has that same presence.”
While Chait said that his years without singing are regrettable, he loves what it has taught him about life.
“That’s the fantastic thing in life,” Chait said. “If there’s something that really speaks to you, I mean really turns you on, you can always go back to it.”