Guitarist Jeff Parker and ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose—stopped by NPR to perform a Tiny Desk Concert. "Music can transport you, even or especially when the destination's unknown," writes NPR's Lars Gotrich. "For 22 minutes, this is what Jeff Parker's Tiny Desk with the ETA IVtet can offer: a space for your mind to meditate on what the music speaks, set to a gossamer groove." You can watch it here.

The band Tortoise has shared its first new music since 2016 today: the digital single “Oganesson,” in anticipation of a larger body of work to be released soon via International Anthem & Nonesuch Records (details TBA). The track was released just as the band performs both new music and classics from their thirty-year catalog at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Way Out of Easy, the new album from guitarist Jeff Parker and his ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose—is now available on all streaming platforms. Upon the album's physical release last month, it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, and Pitchfork named it Best New Music, saying: "The vibe is laid-back, but it rewards rapt attention ... This exceptional record fixes your attention on the present moment."

Jeff Parker and ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Jay Bellerose—stopped by the WNYC Studios in New York City to perform on New Sounds' Soundcheck and talk with host John Schaefer about their new album, The Way Out of Easy. They perform a short improvisation and the album track "Freakadelic" live in the studio. You can watch both and hear the full episode here.

The Way Out of Easy, the first album from guitarist Jeff Parker and his long-running ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Jay Bellerose—since their 2022 debut Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, which Pitchfork named one of the Best Albums of the 2020s So Far, is out now on International Anthem / Nonesuch Records. Like that album, The Way Out of Easy comprises recordings from LA venue ETA, where Parker and the ensemble held a weekly residency for seven years. During that time, the ETA IVtet evolved from a band that played mostly standards into a group known for its transcendent, long-form journeys into innovative, groove-oriented improvised music. All four tracks on The Way Out of Easy come from a single night in 2023, providing an unfiltered view of the ensemble, fully in their element. 

The Way Out of Easy, the first album from guitarist Jeff Parker and his long-running ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Jay Bellerose—since their 2022 debut Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, which Pitchfork named one of the Best Albums of the 2020s So Far, is due November 22 on International Anthem / Nonesuch Records. Like that album, The Way Out of Easy comprises recordings from LA venue ETA, where Parker and the ensemble held a weekly residency for seven years. During that time, the ETA IVtet evolved from a band that played mostly standards into a group known for its transcendent, long-form journeys into innovative, groove-oriented improvised music. All four tracks on The Way Out of Easy come from a single night in 2023, providing an unfiltered view of the ensemble, fully in their element. You can watch a video for the seventeen-minute album track "Late Autumn," made by Mikel Patrick Avery, here.

Following this year's Big Ears Festival, in which more than 15 Nonesuch artists past, present, and future performed as part of the label's 60th anniversary celebrations, Big Ears has just announced the lineup for its 2025 running to take place in venues throughout downtown Knoxville, TN, March 27–30, 2025, including Ambrose Akinmusire, Jeff Parker, and Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti and Frank Rosaly.

Congratulations to Cécile McLorin Salvant, Makaya McCraven, and Jeff Parker, each of whom has won the Deutscher Jazzpreis in Germany. Salvant won for International Vocal Album for her Nonesuch debut album, Ghost Song; McCraven for International Drums/Percussion; and Parker for International String Instrument. Winners were announced at an awards ceremony in Bremen today.

Congratulations to Cécile McLorin Salvant, Sam Gendel, Jeff Parker, and Makaya McCraven, who have all been nominated for Deutscher Jazzpreis in Germany: Salvant for International Vocal Album for her Ghost Song; Gendel and Parker for International String Instruments; and McCraven for International Drums/Percussion. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in Bremen on April 27.

Jeff Parker stopped by Amoeba Music in San Francisco to share some of what he’s been listening to for their What’s in My Bag series, including music by Madlib; Eddie Harris; Doug Hammond & David Durrah; Elements; Ray Charles; Sly & Robbie Meet King Tubby; Sphere; The John Carter Octet; Jakob Bro, Arve Henriksen, and Jorge Rossy; Zawinul; and William S. Fischer. You can take a look inside here.

In These Times, the new album by percussionist, producer, and composer Makaya McCraven, is due September 23. It has been in process since 2015 and is the album McCraven’s been trying to make since he started making records, an appropriately career-defining body of work. The eleven-song suite was created over seven-plus years, as McCraven strived to fuse odd-meter compositions from his working songbook with orchestral, large-ensemble arrangements and the edit-heavy “organic beat music” he’s honed over the years. With contributions from over a dozen musicians and creative partners from his tight-knit circle of collaborators—including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, and Marquis Hill—In These Times highlights McCraven’s unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders, and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st-century folk music.

Jeff Parker is on the International Anthem Podcast. He spoke with host Ayana Contreras in front of a live audience at Dorian's (Through The Record Shop) in Chicago last December, ahead of the release of his new solo guitar album, Forfolks. They talk about record collecting, Parker’s journey to embracing solo guitar sonics as improvisational atmospheres, and more. You can hear their conversation here.