Jazz | Kiefer

A live, open-air jazz and dinner series.

Meet us outside under the desert sky every Wednesday 7.30–9.30pm for a night of auditory bliss, paired with a menu of delights from the kitchen.

Reservations highly recommended and can be made HERE. Limited seating is also available close to the performance on a first-come first-served basis.

This week’s performance: KIEFER

For Los Angeles artist Kiefer Shackelford, music has always been a personal endeavour. Over his career, the musician has been evolving a style inspired by jazz and other Black American music that’s warm, approachable, and most importantly, “comes from an emotional place”.

Whereas Kiefer’s two albums and three EPs to date were crafted largely solo, with him playing keys and producing beats, his new album When There’s Love Around is the first to feature a full band. With this rich accompaniment, there’s a new sense of expressiveness to Kiefer’s music.

To help realize his vision, Kiefer assembled a band of his favorite musicians, including DJ Harrison, Andy McCauley, Josh Johnson, Will Logan, Sam Wilkes and other jazz luminaries. They laid the album down in three sets of sessions over 2020, including one stint at Jazzy Jeff’s studio after the DJ invited Kiefer to record there. Several songs were recorded in one or two takes, with any mistakes left in, true to Kiefer’s preference for music that feels spontaneous and from the heart. Kiefer has long performed with a live band, and found the setup suited the communal spirit he was striving for on this album: “I find something about the Herculean type of jazz performer really alienating. I want to celebrate human connection,” he explains.

The album’s two halves are united by the question of identity. Kiefer says: “I’m asking who I am, what my past means, what loss means, what my spirituality is. And in the midst of all of that, in every song, there is a theme of love. Even if it seems mundane or weird, we are perpetually living in a moment that is special and divine.”