Kenny Kersey

[EKE BBB]

I know this guy´s playing from Billie´s recordings and from JATP and I dig him!

As far as I know, Ken Kersey recorded just a dozen titles as a leader, four for Savoy (1946), two for Clef (1949), two for Circle (1950) and four for Foxy (1951).

Is there any release with all these dates? An AMG search brings me only one record "Ken Kersey" (Savoy, 1954) and no review.

Any additional comment on this player will be appreciated!!!

Edited September 24, 2003 by EKE BBB

[EKE BBB]

Kenny Kersey, Café Society (Downtown), New York, June 1947]

[FrancoisD]

None of his dates as a leader seem to have been reissued on CD, but he can be heard on the following :

Henry "Red" Allen and his orchestra :

Henry Allen-tp/v, J.C Higginbotham-tb,Edmond Hall-cl, Kenny Kersey-p, Billy Taylor-b, Jimmy Hoskins-d.

NYC, April 17, 1941

30270- K.K. Boogie Okeh rejected Collectors' Classics 23

30270-1 K.K. Boogie Okeh 6281 Collectors' Classics 23

30270-2 K.K. Boogie Okeh rejected Collectors' Classics 23

30271-1 Sometimes I'm Happy, Part 1 Okeh rejected Collectors' Classics 23

30271- Sometimes I'm Happy, Part 1 - -

30271-2 Sometimes I'm Happy, Part 1 - -

30272- Sometimes I'm Happy, Part 2 - -

30272-1 Sometimes I'm Happy, Part 2 - -

30272-2 Sometimes I'm Happy, Part 2 - -

30273- Ol' Man River - -

30273- Ol' Man River - -

30273-1 Ol' Man River - -

30273- Ol' Man River - -

30273-2 Ol' Man River Okeh 6281, Collectors' Classics 23

NYC, July 22, 1941

30894- A Sheridan "Square" Okeh rejected, Collectors' Classics 23

30894-1 A Sheridan "Square" Okeh 6357, Collectors' Classics 23

30894- A Sheridan " Square" Okeh rejected, Collectors' Classics 23

30894- A Sheridan "Square" - -

30894-2 A Sheridan "Square" - -

30895- Siesta At The Fiesta - , Collectors' Classics 24

30895-1 Siesta At The Fiesta - -

30896-1 Indiana Okeh 6357, Collectors' Classics 24

30896-2 Indiana Okeh rejected, -

30897-1 Jack The Bellboy Okeh rejected, Collectors' Classics 24

30897- Jack The Bellboy - -

30897-2 Jack The Bellboy - -

Cootie Williams and his orchestra :

Cootie Williams, Milton Fraser, Joe Guy-tp, Louis Bacon-tp/v, Jonas Walker, R.H. Horton, Sandy Williams-tb, Charlie Holmes-as, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson-as/v, Bob Dorsey, Greely Walton-ts, John Wiliams-bar, Kenny Kersey-p, Norman Keenan-b, "Butch" Ballard-d.

Chicago, April 1, 1942

C4205-1 Sleepy Valley Okeh rejected, Classics 827

C4206-1 Marcheta-vLB Okeh rejected, Classics 827

C4207-1 When My Baby Left Me-v EV Columbia KG 30788 (LP), Classics 827

C4208-1 Fly Right (Epistrophy) Columbia C3L-38, CBS 65392, Classics 827

Kersey's solo on "Fly Right" is one of the earliest instances of "proto-bop" piano playing, and serves as a reminder of how much the poorly documented period of 1942-44 blurred the perception of the genesis of the "new music". The same can be said of Joe Guy's "advanced" solo on the same title.

Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy :

Andy Kirk dir. Johnny Burris, Harry "Big Jim" Lawson-tp, Howard McGhee-tp/arr, Ted Donnelly, Milt Robinson-tb, John Harrington-cl/as/bar, Ben Smith-as, Edward Inge-cl/ts, Al Sears-ts, Kenny Kersey-p/arr, Floyd Smith-g, Booker Collins-b, Ben Thigpen-d, June Richmond-v.

NYC, July 14, 1942

71050-A Hey Lawdy Mama-vJR Decca 4405, Classics 681

71051-A Boogie Woogie Cocktail-aKK Decca 4381, Classics 681

71052-A Ride On-vJR Decca 4436

71053-A McGhee Special-aHMG Decca 4405

"Boogie Woogie Cocktail" is a piano showcase for Kersey. Though the boogie format does not generally allow for much innovation, several "runs" and harmonic turns sound extremely progressive for the period. This solo was adapted from the earlier "K.K. Boogie" on the Allen session.

Benny Goodman also used Kersey on the well-known "Gilly"/ "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" Charlie Christian session on December 19, 1940.

Listening to the later material, the JATP sessions for instance, it seems that Kersey did not actually join the ranks of the boppers, but reverted to a much more conservative swing style. I have not heard any of the dates he made as a leader, but the choice of material and selection of sidemen suggest they were "swing" recordings.

[EKE BBB]

Thanks for the info, FrancoisD

Somewhere (think it was Alyn Shipton´s "A new history of jazz") I read something about his influence on the early "proto-bop" piano playing, as you mention. That´s why I was surprised when I look for him in my jazz collection and found he was always in a "mainstream" context.

He´s featured a lot in the JATP set (with Bird, Hawk, Prez, Jacquet, Flip Phillips...).

And at least in three sets he´s leading a piano trio:

-With Al McKibbon and JC Heard "Boogie woogie call rag"

-With Slam Stewart (well, who´s the leader here?) "My blue heaven" and "Play fiddle play"

-With Benny Fonville and Buddy Rich "Boogie woogie call rag" again and "Sweet Lorraine"

[FrancoisD]

Walter Bruyninckx's discography also lists Kersey's recordings under the "Swing" heading.

[Brownian Motion]

Kenny also turns up on the Buck Clayton Mosaic set, and a live date with Buck from the early 50s that was issued on Storyville (not very good sound quality, unfortunately). Kenny's also on the Jack Teagarden album reissued on Fresh Sounds with Lucky Thompson and Ruby Braff. And Kenny shows up on a Sol Yaged date from 1956 and easily steals the show from Yaged's vapid Benny-derived noodlings. Not long after, Kenny stopped playing because of a degenerative disease--I'm not certain which.

Edited September 24, 2003 by Brownian Motion

[mmilovan]

There is also some Kersey's playing at Minton's, but problem of attribution with Minton dates is big, until now on. It is interesting that people used to replace Kersey for Monk when reissued bunch of Minton's CDs. And that is one important part of the story!

He was very advanced player for his time, speaking of his amusement complex harmonies.

I like him very much.

And he certainly is kind of a prototype for bop pianists, until there was no Bud Powell on horizon.

[Al in NYC]

Ken Kersey is from just north of the little town nearest my grandparents' old house (and now my parents summer cottage) Harrow Ont. (about 20 miles or so south of Detroit), and members of the Kersey family still live there. There is a small black community in Harrow dating back to underground railroad days (although many have now intermarried). His family were big in the local AME church, and I believe his mother was the pianist there for many years. I don't know if Ken ever came back around the place though, and I think many of his family moved to Detroit or Windsor. His name was something of a legend in Detroit jazz circles, particularly since he was Billie Holliday's chosen accompanist in the area, and my father knew him peripherally in the '50's and always spoke very highly of him. When we would run into any Kersey family member in town my father would ask them about Ken, and how he was doing. "Oh, he's still in New York I think" was about all the answer he'd ever get. In later years when we were out driving around the Harrow area my dad would often point out the various Kerseys homes and tell us that Ken Kersey was "the best jazz pianist no one ever heard of."

[Brownian Motion]

In 1961 Kenny was a patient at the New York State Rehabilitation Hospital in West Haverstraw New York, since renamed the Helen Hays Hospital. I was there as well. Word got around among the patients that Kenny was quite a jazz pianist. I was 13, and was just developing an interest in jazz, but of course I had never heard of him. Kenny seemed to be a shy man who kept to himself, but after he was there for a month or so he was persuaded to perform for the patients. He was in a wheel chair by then but his upper extremities seemed fine. So one evening in the hospital auditorium he played for about an hour before a small but respectful crowd of other patients and a few ringers. I don't remember much about the concert, other than that he played a boogie woogie number that was most probably Boogie Woogie Cocktail, his old feature with Andy Kirk. I was pretty impressed.

[mmilovan]

Thanks Al and Brownian Motion for sharing these two invaluable rememberings to the great Kenny. He certainly is among the "best jazz pianists no one ever heard of". We can only hope that things in future will change by reissuing his recordings.

I am just reminding myself: Kersey was on that Holiday small group Commodore dates while she was under contract with Columbia, right? And, also, did he backed up Billie in Cafe Society Downtown days?

[jazzbo]

Unless I'm mistaken, Kersey was not on the Holiday sides for Commodore, that was Eddie Heywood or Sonny White. He did appear on JATP sides with her. . . .

[ghost of miles]

Kersey’s playing on this Pete Brown Keynote date from 1944... yowza! Would love a well-curated CD drawn from his sideman and handful of leader dates, but doubt such a release will ever happen. Still, I think I have enough of his appearances scattered throughout my collection to put a homemade one together myself:

 

 

Edited March 13, 2021 by ghost of miles