Kiefer Shackelford – When There's Love Around (2xLP Blue/Yellow Vinyl)

"When There's Love Around” is the 2021 release of Los Angeles’ Grammy Award-winning pianist and producer Kiefer. An album focused on jazz and hip-hop, this release is one of two halves. The first is "about feeling small and insignificant and stressed," Kiefer says. "It's about things that cause me to worry, but at the end of the day, are probably unimportant from a larger cosmic perspective." The album's second half is more reflective and spiritual, its cathartic mood occasioned by the loss of Kiefer's beloved grandmother. While grief and loss are main themes, the tone is still largely positive – Kiefer describes himself as an optimist.