[Dixielandjazz] Brooks Kerr

[Marek Boym]

You're good.
When I keyed in "Brooks Kerr," all I got was the All About Jazz site.
I have the Charoscuro - very nice.  He visited Israel with Panama Francis
and, I believe, Al Morgan.
Cheers


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בלי
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On 10 May 2017 at 22:51, ROBERT R. CALDER <serapion at btinternet.com> wrote:

> report below from
>
>
>
> http://www.musiciansfoundation.org/lives-changed/brooks-kerr/
> THERE IS A LOT OF BROOKS KERR ON YOUTUBE -- and I think a tape he made of
> LUCKEY ROBERTS demonstrating JUNK MAN RAG
>
> (NOT PAINFUL TO CHECK!!!!) but he seems not to have been having a
> wonderful time -- the date 2017 is on the page copied below but the report
> has no more precise date
>
> Robert
>
> _________________________________________
>
>
> Brooks Kerr Home Lives Changed
> Brooks Kerr Keeping Ellington’s Legacy Alive
> The Musicians Foundation Helps the Steward of Duke Ellington’s Songs Play
> On
>
> Brooks Kerr was born to play the piano. He began on the instrument at
>
> age 2 and was quickly identified as a prodigy. Kerr’s first musical model
> was Fats Waller, and he gained early attention for his lively and
> virtuosic renditions of Fats Waller’s music. But it was Duke Ellington
> who ultimately shaped the direction of Kerr’s career.
> Kerr first met Ellington at age 5; by his teen years they were
>
> touring together across the country and abroad. John Wilson,
>
> jazz critic of The New York Times, described the Julliard-trained Kerr as
> possessing “an encyclopedic knowledge of Ellington’s music,”
>
> a repertory that includes over a thousand compositions, many of them now
> standards
> of the Great American Songbook. At the end of Ellington’s life,
>
> Kerr sat in for his ailing mentor in concert – chosen steward for this
> remarkable canon of American music.
>
> After Ellington’s death, Brooks Kerr collaborated with some of Duke’s
> sidemen.
>
> Among the veterans who played in Kerr’s band were Sonny Greer,
>
> Russell Procope, Ray Nance and Paul Gonsalves. Kerr recorded for the
> following Jazz record labels: Famous Door in 1974; Chiaroscuro in 1975
> (a set of duets with Greer); and Blue Wail during 1981-82 (tributes to
> Duke Ellington, Fats Waller and Irving Berlin.) Kerr sparked a
>
> friendship with Irving Berlin through his resurrection of several
>
> of the composer’s forgotten pieces. In fact, they grew so close Berlin
> referred to Kerr as a “son.”
> Kerr’s sight deteriorated throughout his childhood, leaving him
>
> legally blind by his mid- 20’s. Such was his love of music that he
>
> dealt with this loss with equanimity. For Kerr, life “has always been
> about the music.”
> Not only has this teacher and performer upheld the legacy of some of
> America’s most important music, he’s also served as a loyal friend to
> other musicians, always willing to help a fellow artist in need.
> Then Brooks Kerr needed help himself.
> Struck with kidney disease and in need of a transplant, Kerr found
> himself unable to perform. Like so many musicians, this artist who had
> devoted his entire life to bringing pleasure to others was left with no
> means of financial support while enduring an unexpected medical crisis.
> The Musicians Foundation has provided Kerr and his family assistance
> to pay their bills while he undergoes treatment. Kerr’s family reports
> that he is recovering well after his kidney transplant. With his
> financial distress alleviated, he can now focus on what matters most:
> getting well so that he can return to making the music that is part of
> our shared and cherished heritage.
>
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