The Alluvion welcomes Blue Note artist Kiefer from LA to our stage. Kiefer is a modern pianist, producer, and composer known for a unique blend of jazz, hip-hop, and electronic music and a central figure in the diverse independent music scene of Los Angeles. Performing a set with his full band as a part of The Alluvion Jazz Series
"Hard-hitting beats, complex jazz voicings and sentimental melodies."
All ages - General Admission
Seated Listening Room Style Show
Doors & bar open at 7:00 PM - Show starts at 7:30
Tickets $30 in advance - $35 at the door
KIEFER
One of LA’s best kept musical secrets, Kiefer has been described as a musician who doesn’t play keys with his fingers, but with his soul, which just about sums up in as simple terms as possible the artistry of this truly gifted individual who has re-defined that happy place between jazz improvisation and hip-hop beat-making. His distinctive musical style, which he calls ‘Over The Breaks,’ reaches new heights of creativity on Memory Bomb, his solo debut for Blue Note Records.
Raised in San Diego, Kiefer Shackelford’s upbringing consisted of parents who were both aerospace engineers and keen pianists who both influenced him in their own way. His mother taught him at a very young age how to read music and play piano including simple Bach minuets. His father was a big lover of jazz, and Blue Note in particular, whose records included the hard bop of Sonny Clark and the soul jazz of Gene Harris. Kiefer would endlessly listen to Kind Of Blue, and after reading Miles Davis’s biography at 13, he knew he wanted to become a jazz musician. All during high school he studied jazz piano with a local teacher and went on to attend UCLA where Blue Note legend guitarist Kenny Burrell, who was head of the jazz program, became one of his tutors all through his college career.
After college Kiefer got signed to Stones Throw Records where he began to establish his musical identity and gain notice with a series of releases including Happysad, Between Days, and It’s Ok, B U. His musical resume now includes collabs with Dr. Dre, De La Soul, Pete Rock, Anderson .Paak, Kaytranada, Terrace Martin, and many others.
Back in 2021 he’d heard that the legendary Don Was, President of Blue Note Records, was taking an interest his work and when time came to look for new partnerships to help him communicate his art to an appreciative audience and he realized that Blue Note would be a great place to do just that. He regards being signed to Blue Note as an “awesome gift” and a huge honor as well as a sentimental full circle moment after having grown up listening to Blue Note. The new collective project FATHERS—with Kiefer, bassist CARRTOONS, drummer Nate Smith, and producer Kenneth Blume—was the first full-length album on the label to feature the keyboardist.
Kiefer is a great believer in embracing new influences and new styles by way of collaboration with others and that’s where the journey to his first Blue Note leader album starts. His first priority was to get his two best friends—CARRTOONS and Shibo—to co-produce the album with him as they completely understood his sound, his harmony and were both extremely adept at drum programming. This mindset of innovation through collaboration extended to the inclusion of a whole host of vocalists, rappers and stellar musicians to produce interesting combinations leading to something new and exciting that still sounded like a Kiefer thing.
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