Episode 210: Jeff Parker (ETA IVtet / Tortoise)

Vinyl Emergency

With high marks from The New York Times, Pitchfork and more -- plus overwhelming support from the indie record store community -- Jeff Parker's latest album The Way Out of Easy is inarguably one of the most discussed and heralded jazz LP's of the 2000's. Fully improvisational and recorded live to tape with the ETA IVtet, monikered after Parker and his bandmates spent nearly half a decade playing weekly at the Enfield Tennis Academy (a since-defunct Los Angeles cocktail bar), the album is a transcendent 80 minutes of hazy ambiance and nuanced exploration that rewards both devout jazz enthusiasts and genre newcomers at every turn. This week, Jeff speaks about his first time on vinyl with the influential Chicago collective Tortoise, paying tribute to his parents through two different albums, a recent exuberant conversation with Flea, and which rapper he dreams of working with. Follow @jeffparkersounds on Instagram and find The Way Out of Easy at intlathem.bandcamp.com or wherever you get music.