Jeff Parker ETA IVtet

A perennial name to those with a fondness for Chicago’s post-rock and jazz enclaves, Jeff Parker further dug himself into the public consciousness with a run of records for International Anthem and Nonesuch. The run also traces Parker’s exodus to the West Coast, a move that also led to a residency at the now shuttered, but much beloved Enfield Tennis Academy. The quartet that formed in Parker’s ETA residency was documented in 2022’s exploratory and engrossing release, Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy. The record gave outsiders and non-LA residents a glimpse of what we’d been missing all those years, highlighting the group’s dynamic interplay and deft handle on groove.

Anna Butterss, Jay Bellerose, and Josh Johnson return to weave rhythm and repetition into a tapestry that’s threaded with delicate patterns and infused with fragrant smoke. The record captures one night, a single performance, rather than the assembled array that made up the previous record. The shift showcases the band’s comfort and skill, taking on Parker’s 2012 tune “Freakadelic,” expounding on improvisations, and ending with an unexpected nod to dub that hurtles the band’s sound into the syrupy moorings of unfamiliar terrain without hesitation. The band stands at their peak, a symbiotic organism that communicates through the musical mycelium. Sadly, this recording also captures the venue’s waning moments, as it would shutter by the end of the year. While the venue may be gone, the ETA IVtet lives on, and within recordings of The Way Out of Easy the aura of Enfield becomes a fifth member of the ensemble, a spirit to be carried wherever their next home may be.

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