Jeff Parker ETA IVtet – The Way Out Of Easy (2xLP)

Released in late 2024, The Way Out of Easy captures the culmination of a long-running residency by guitarist Jeff Parker and his quartet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose—at the ETA bar in Los Angeles. The album documents a live set built on groove-based improvisation, loose interplay, and Parker’s distinctive balance of lyrical restraint and exploratory freedom. It follows in the spirit of his earlier work on Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, but this time with a more grounded rhythm section and tighter ensemble focus.

With only four tracks stretching across nearly an hour, the album invites deep, uninterrupted listening. “Freakadelic” opens with a hypnotic bassline and patient layering, setting the tone for a session that rewards attention to mood and nuance. What emerges is not just a collection of jams, but a fluid conversation between players who trust silence as much as sound. The recording feels both intimate and expansive, capturing the raw chemistry of a group that has evolved organically through years of collaboration.

Reviews

"The guitarist’s latest live set of exploratory, atmospheric jazz shares sensibilities with 2022’s Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy. The vibe is laid-back, but it rewards rapt attention." – Pitchfork

"Parker and his band, ETA IVtet, understand jazz as journey and exploration... It’s a compelling odyssey." – KLOF Mag

"The Way Out of Easy is a series of excursions from a group that seem destined to be engraved like the Necks before them as masters of this form of hyper-extended vamps and minimalist meditations." – Treble

"The Way Out of Easy is testament to the power of live jazz – a mercurial form that captivates when in the right hands." – Uncut

"The quartet format seems to imply something more forceful, more determined than a trio... Parker’s guitar lines are fluid and chiming, an anchor in melody when things get skittish." – KLOF Mag