Kiefer

Kiefer Shackelford, who records as Kiefer, works as a keyboardist and producer whose soulful jazz sensibility has drawn notice for its cross-genre character and hip-hop leanings. Living in Los Angeles, he stepped forward in 2017 with the self-released debut Kickinit Alone, an album shaped by hip-hop and R&B atmospheres that relied on layered jazz harmonies and improvisation instead of samples.

His second album, Happysad, surfaced in 2018, after which he issued the seven-track EP Superbloom in 2019. Between Days followed in 2021, and the solo album It's OK, B U appeared two years later.

Shackelford was born in San Diego in 1992 and began piano studies near the age of six after his father introduced him to jazz. He trained in both classical and jazz idioms during childhood, reaching a level of solo proficiency by his mid-teens. At the same time he started building his own hip-hop and electronic productions on computer. After high school he continued refining his jazz technique at UCLA under the guidance of guitarist Kenny Burrell, flutist James Newton, and pianist Tamir Hendelman. While jazz remained central to his studies, Kiefer began combining composed jazz passages and live improvisation with programmed beats, forging the hybrid language later documented on Kickinit Alone. He also recorded with Abe Laboriel, Gabriel Castellanos, and Rob Thorsen.

After signing to Stones Throw Records he released Happysad in 2018, which contained the single “What a Day.” The 2019 EPs Bridges and Superbloom expanded his palette through analog synthesizers and a more deliberately composed approach to songwriting. His third album, Between Days, arrived in 2021 and featured contributions from producers the Kount, 10.4 ROG, Lakey Inspired, and jazz trumpeter Theo Croker.

In August 2023 Kiefer issued the single “August Again,” a hazy late-summer piece whose visualizer was created by Barcelona-based artist María Medem. The sixteen-track album It's Ok, B U, issued on Stones Throw, returned him to solo studio practice, centering his unaccompanied piano against an array of original homemade beats.