From 2016 until it closed in late 2023, jazz guitarist Jeff Parker held a weekly residency at Los Angeles venue ETA. Over that time he formed a quartet that became known for their slowly unfurling compositions incorporating synthesised saxophone with drums, melodic guitar and earthy bass. The group released a stellar debut, Mondays at Enfield Tennis Academy, in 2022, and with The Way Out of Easy cement their status as players with a deeply engaging connection.
The joy of the album’s four lengthy tracks, recorded at the ETA in a single night in 2023, is in hearing its ideas develop at their own pace. Twenty-three-minute opener Freakadelic finds drummer Jay Bellerose and bassist Anna Butterss navigating a head-nodding hip-hop groove as Parker and saxophonist Josh Johnson trade sinuous lines before flipping through a series of crescendos and breakdowns. Late Autumn develops a beautifully plaintive motif over Parker’s clean melodies, while Chrome Dome delves into the syncopated swing of reggae.
Throughout, the ETA IVtet revel in the unpredictability of improvisation, switching energies but never rushing to find the next moment. The Way Out of Easy is testament to the power of live jazz – a mercurial form that captivates when in the right hands.
