Over the past decade LA-based pianist and producer Kiefer has pioneered a fresh and invigorating jazz sound. Referencing deep-swinging hip-hop rhythm as much as intuitive jazz improvisation, soulful orchestration and beatmaking culture, his three album releases since 2017’s debut “Kickinit Alone” have spawned a distinct subgenre he calls “over the breaks.”

Harnessing his experience playing for cult-favourite R&B and alternative hip-hop acts like Anderson .Paak and Mndsgn, alongside his regular collaborations with producers CARRTOONS and Shibo, Kiefer has spearheaded a laidback West Coast scene that threads the connection between the area’s notorious instrumental identities, from the languorous mood of ‘50s West Coast jazz innovators like Dave Brubeck to its ‘90s G Funk-inflected hip- hop sound. In the process, he has produced something beguilingly new.

Recently signing to Blue Note, Kiefer now releases a double-header of captivating records that each expand on and deepen his over the breaks sound: a debut collaborative album as FATHERS with CARRTOONS, producer Kenny Beats and drummer Nate Smith, and his own solo album, Memory Bomb.

Throughout both bodies of work, earthy and rooted grooves are central to Kiefer’s emotive, interweaving melodic arrangements. Leaning into a down to mid-tempo sense of pacing, the eight impressionistic tracks on the self-titled FATHERS album veer seamlessly from the rollicking funk rhythms of “Patchwork” to the hip-hop boom bap beat of “Stub”, syncopated Latin grooves of “Pearl” and head-nodding soulfulness of “Tomorrow, Again.” In each instance Kiefer is both bolstered by and elevates that rhythmic foundation through his artful turns on keening synths and warm Rhodes, syncing up perfectly with the Smith’s kick drum on “Patchwork,” while adding textural embellishment to “Stub.”

The 13 compositions on Memory Bomb, meanwhile, extend and amplify that synergy between the rhythm section and Kiefer’s melody. Shuffling, half-time breakbeats skitter beneath synth pads and layered piano harmonies on the infectious “Daydreaming,” for instance, while a J Dilla-referencing groove from Nate Smith swings hard alongside top-line synth melody on “Overture,” twinkling harmonics ring out and add levity to a driving funk beat on “Get to the Moon” and slick, sparse phrasing allows space for the minimal click rhythm on the luscious “Won’t Be Long.”

Kiefer in conversation with Jane Cornwell at Love Supreme 2026

A seriously experienced collaborator with credits spanning everything from rapper Anderson .Paak’s 2019 album Ventura to work with dancefloor-focused producer Kaytranada and soul auteur Moses Sumney, Kiefer’s most enduring skill across both of these albums is ultimately his capacity to gracefully bandlead and draw the best out of his fellow players, rather than succumb to the urge to interrupt each song with flashes of virtuosity.

In the group FATHERS, Kiefer’s quartet display a mature sense of confident musical telepathy, locking in together in service of the slow-churning groove on “Figure 8,” or jumping on the offbeat stabs of “Front Yard” in unison to create an irrepressible head-nodding urge in the listener. Individual players certainly take their moments to shine, with Nate Smith’s fiendishly complex, kinetic groove dominating “Pearl” and Kiefer’s Hammond Organ lines brightening “The Leak,” but each moment works to elevate the texture and overall ambience of the tune, rather than dominate it entirely.

In Memory Bomb, Kiefer’s roster of features is even more varied, including the likes of Moonchild singer Amber Navran, saxophonist and Blue Note bandleader Walter Smith III, singer Rae Khalil, rapper Erick the Architect and erstwhile collaborators Nate Smith and CARRTOONS. Careful not to overstuff his compositions, each guest is well-placed and given ample space to cut loose, with Khalil’s distinct R&B phrasing skipping over Kiefer’s wistful chords on “Nowhere Fast,” Walter Smith III’s achingly beautiful layered harmonies setting the plaintive mood on the title track, and Navran’s breathy vocalisations acting as an instrumental lead on “Get to the Moon” as well as mirroring Kiefer’s piano harmony on the dreamy textures of “Won’t Be Long.”

Perfectly straddling the roles of producer, composer, bandleader and sideman, Kiefer’s turn on both FATHERS and Memory Bomb herald a new chapter in the polymath’s storied yet still developing career. Continuing to find new and detailed language for his over the breaks sound, Kiefer brings together collaborators both fresh and familiar to take that alluring West Coast sonic sensibility truly global. Even the sky isn’t much of a limit.

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Ammar Kalia is a writer and musician. He is the Guardian’s Global Music Critic and writes for the Observer, Downbeat, Jazzwise and others. His debut novel, A Person Is A Prayer, is out now.

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_{Photo: Brandon Mosquera I © Blue Note Records}