In 1945 he became a member of the group led by Gorni Kramer and joined the orchestra of the television show Buone vacanze.

[2] He played double bass in addition to guitar starting in the 1950s, such as with Chet Baker and Buddy Collette.

He has also played with Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Griffin, Stéphane Grappelli, Lars Gullin, Billie Holiday, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Lou Bennett, Bud Shank, Tony Scott, Django Reinhardt, Phil Woods, and the Modern Jazz Quartet.

[3] Cerri has led quartets and quintets with Tullio De Piscopo, Pino Presti, Gianluigi Trovesi, Flavio Ambrosetti, and Jean-Luc Ponty.

[4] In 1980 he formed a duo with pianist Enrico Intra, with whom he founded the "Civica Scuola di Jazz" in Milan.