Ken Kersey was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 pianist who spent most of his life working in the United States.

Kersey was born into a musical family and studied piano and trumpet while attending the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts

Detroit Institute of Musical Arts

The Detroit Institute of Musical Arts was a music conservatory in Detroit, Michigan that was actively providing higher education in music from 1914-1970.-History:...

. In 1936, Kersey moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where he played with Lucky Millinder

Lucky Millinder

Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...

, Billy Hicks, Frankie Newton, Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...

, Roy Eldridge

Roy Eldridge

Roy David Eldridge , nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a...

, Red Allen

Red Allen

Henry James "Red" Allen was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong.-Life and career:...

, and Cootie Williams

Cootie Williams

Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...

, In 1942 he replaced Mary Lou Williams

Mary Lou Williams

Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...

 as Andy Kirk

Andy Kirk

Andrew Dewey Kirk was a jazz saxophonist and tubist best known as a bandleader of the "Twelve Clouds of Joy," popular during the swing era....

's pianist; Kirk recorded his composition "Boogie Woogie Cocktail". He joined the Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 from 1943 to 1945, where he occasionally played trumpet in military bands, then played from 1946 to 1949 with the Jazz at the Philharmonic

Jazz at the Philharmonic

Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP, was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz....

 touring ensembles. He continued to play with noted musicians through the 1950s, including Eldridge and Allen again, as well as Buck Clayton

Buck Clayton

Buck Clayton was an American jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong...

, Edmond Hall

Edmond Hall

Edmond Hall was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. His father Edward Blainey Hall and mother Caroline Duhe had eight children, Priscilla , Moretta , Viola , Robert , Edmond , Clarence , Edward and Herbert .-Early life:Born in Reserve, Louisiana, about...

, Sol Yaged

Sol Yaged

Sol Yaged is an American jazz clarinetist, strongly influenced by Benny Goodman's style.Yaged was born in Brooklyn, New York and began playing clarinet at the age of 12 after hearing Goodman's broadcasts for Nabisco in 1935...

, and Charlie Shavers

Charlie Shavers

Charles James Shavers , known as Charlie Shavers, was an American swing era jazz trumpet player who played at one time or another with Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams and Billie Holiday...

.

Kersey retired from music late in the 1950s after being diagnosed with a bone ailment. He recorded twelve tunes as a bandleader - four for Savoy Records

Savoy Records

Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...

 in 1946, two for Clef Records

Clef Records

Clef Records was an American Jazz record label founded by Norman Granz in 1946. It was later absorbed into Verve Records....

 in 1949, two for Circle Records

Circle Records

Circle Records is a United States based record label specializing in jazz.Circle Records was founded in January of 1946 by Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis. They heard great jazz drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds playing inventive solos while in New York City with Bunk Johnson's band. Blesh said that he...

 in 1950, and four for Foxy Records in 1951 which featured Hot Lips Page and Paul Quinichette

Paul Quinichette

Paul Quinichette was a jazz tenor saxophone musician. He was known as the Vice President or Vice Prez for his uncanny emulation of the breathy style of Lester Young, known as Prez. Young, who affectionately called everyone "Lady ****" , called him "Lady Q"...

as sidemen.