Chester Monson Brooks Joseph Kerr III (December 26, 1951 – April 28, 2018)[1] was an American jazz pianist.
[2] He was perhaps best known for being bandleader of a small group featuring Sonny Greer and Russell Procope[3] and for his knowledge of Duke Ellington's work, which he often performed.
[2][4] Kerr was born premature, and suffered from a degenerative retinal disease called retrolental fibroplasia, which made him blind in one eye and only partially seeing in the other.
[4] When he was 2 years old, Kerr took lessons from Jane Stevens at Yale University, and attended Dr. Milton Senn's Child Study Center.
[4] The band Kerr led with Greer and Procope frequented Greenwich Village jazz clubs and hotels in the New York City area.