Kiefer

Pianist and producer based in Los Angeles, Kiefer Shackelford, who releases music under the name Kiefer, creates a world at the crossroads of jazz and instrumental hip hop. Originally from the San Diego area in the United States, trained in jazz piano and having studied in UCLA's jazz department, Kiefer is part of the Los Angeles beat scene while maintaining an approach strongly shaped by improvisation and jazz harmony. His recording career began in the mid‑2010s and took form with the album Kickinit Alone in 2017, followed by Happysad in 2018, which established a style of short pieces, melodic piano lines, slow grooves and lo‑fi‑like textures. Signed to Stones Throw Records, Kiefer followed with the EPs Bridges and Superbloom in 2019, then Between Days in 2021, where the format thickens and incorporates more group playing. The album When There's Love Around, also released in 2021, and It’s Ok, B U in 2023 continue this evolution toward a contemporary jazz nourished by soul and R&B, giving significant space to singing piano themes. Alongside his projects as Kiefer, the musician collaborates as a keyboardist and composer with other artists in the R&B and hip hop sphere, notably Anderson .Paak, while pursuing a live practice in which jazz improvisation, beat culture and downtempo aesthetics meet.