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.
