Kiefer - It'S Ok, B U "Cd" - Import CD

Credits:

Kiefer

Description:

Its OK B U is the fourth long-player from L.A.-based keyboardist, composer, and producer Kiefer. While 2021s When Theres Love Around showcased him along with a jazz band for the first time, this 16-track set is a return to solo playing, beatmaking, and production. The albums selections range from just under five seconds to five-and-a-half minutes. The music is tenderly introspective, lushly melodic, and clean with inventive rhythm tracks framing stellar piano skills. While his last outing registered firmly on the modern side of contemporary jazz (in spiritual and aesthetic kinship with John Carroll Kirby), this one claims a space on its bleeding edge. Kiefer is a key part of the current generation of L.A.-area musicians erasing boundaries between jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul, funk, electronic, and pop, calling into question more traditional notions of composition, production, and performance. Opener "I Could Cry" is just 1:40, but inside that brief span exists a sparkling, midtempo ballad that weds circular beats (breaking out every 25 seconds or so) and a staggered bassline with syncopated keyboards. The pianos chord progression recalls the intro vamp in Joe Jacksons "Steppin Out." "My Disorder"s kick drum and snare loop frame a loopy piano melody combining intro, interlude, and outro in a staggered syncopation exchange with striated beats. By contrast, "Dreamer," with its slowly bubbling Kraftwerkian drum loop, frames a gentle, plodding disco bassline and lilting piano balladry that recalls Joe Samples influential phrasing. "Falling" is another laid-back groover with piano chords in a vamp sequence that gets unmade every other measure as pillowy organs and analog synths wash through the backdrop. Multi-instrumentalist/producer Luke Titus assists on "Head Trip"; it wonderfully and strangely combines junglist beats, a simulated harpsichord progression, hovering woodwinds, and a pulse supplied by an electric bass, creating a reverie adorned by the pianos harmonic through-line and skittering beats. "Hips" is a crystalline nocturnal jazz ballad with a serpentine melody framed in hypnotic beats and handclaps. The bouncy "Doomed" is a peppery piano composition with jagged rhythms and off-kilter piano vamps underscoring a short, propulsive solo. "August Again" is a melancholy summertime groover with a bumping Rhodes piano line and Mick Fleetwood-esque snare cracking atop a lithe synth pulse that sounds anything but sad. "Glowing Feat" features guest bassist Pera Krstajic. Its a spectral exercise in layered keyboards with a modal chord framework inside streamlined sexy beats and skittering synths. While the title cut rumbles with spidery Rhodes-driven funk, set-closer "I Mean That" is a bouncy, summertime jazz-funk anthem. Kiefer hums Keith Jarrett style atop his buoyant Rhodes groove. Its OK B U may not break the same creative ground When Theres Love Around did, but it does extend the earlier albums creative discovery in hip compositions, excellent playing, and imaginative production. ~ Thom Jurek