If The Way Out of Easy marked the emergence of the ETA IVtet as an entity separate from the site of the band’s origins, Happy Today serves as another milestone: It’s the first ETA IVtet record taped somewhere other than Enfield Tennis Academy. Capturing a 2025 set at the much-larger Lodge Room, the third album from guitarist Jeff Parker, saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss and drummer Jay Bellerose shows a band with more room to move and more space to listen. Over two meditative, grooving and restless long improvisations, Parker and the ETA IVtet hone their connection, deepen their focus, loose their restraints and continue their determined yet serendipitous transformation.
Category: Jeff Parker
Jeff Parker on ETA :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
“With the ETA band, there were all these other experiences dealing with music that people were composing. So, when we would improvise, all of that other stuff was informed in what we were doing.” Visionary guitarist Jeff Parker joins us to discuss The Way Out of Easy, recorded live at his residency at ETA.
Reminders of Time :: On Jeff Parker’s La Jeteé” / “Jetty”
Inspired by Erik Satie and a 1962 French science fiction film, Jeff Parker’s “La Jeteé” / “Jetty” has morphed and mutated over its lifespan, changing with its creators whims and settings. Parker joins us to track the song’s evolution.
Jeff Parker :: Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy
Jeff Parker has had quite a year, but he may have saved the best for last. Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, released by Eremite Records last month, offers up four sidelong pieces recorded live in Los Angeles over the past few years. Here, we get to eavesdrop on Parker, bassist Anna Buttterss, drummer Jay Bellerose and saxophonist Josh Johnson in full freedom flight. It’s an uncommonly intimate live recording — the players seem to be extremely at ease in this small club setting.
Aquarium Drunkard Presents: Jeff Parker And The New Breed @ Gold Diggers March 5th
Aquarium Drunkard Presents: Jeff Parker And The New Breed @ Gold Diggers March 5th. Not to be missed. Los Angeles, Calif.
Transmissions :: Jeff Parker on Suite for Max Brown
As an integral member of Tortoise and an in-demand session player, guitarist Jeff Parker has become one of the most prominent names in the modern jazz vanguard. His new album Suite for Max Brown blends tasteful classicism with electronic and beat-indebted flourishes. Parker joins us to explore the album’s varied palette and spiritual core.
Jeff Parker :: Cliche
In the midst of strange times, guitarist Jeff Parker’s solo album The New Breed has proven a constant companion. A soulful distillation of funk, hip-hop, and jazz, it’s a family affair, featuring Parker’s father Ernie on […]
Jeff Parker :: The New Breed
Guitarist Jeff Parker is best known for his inventive playing in post-rock outfit Tortoise and his collaborations with Rob Mazurek and other Chicago-centric experimental combos, but on his fantastic new solo LP The New Breed, out Friday, June […]