I’m happy and we’re fortunate this kind of music is being made today.
Thoughtful, deep, rich groovy and tasty, The Way Out of Easy features guitarist Jeff Parker, alto saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose recorded live on January 2nd, 2023 at ETA in Los Angeles. This IVtet, a fourtet, plays with time-tested ease, flowing through phases of funk, free, minimalist and damn near mystical fun always easy going, always deep in some shifting groove.
From the liner notes:
The engineer [Bryce] Gonzales is well known for the high-end audio gear he builds as Highland Dynamics, and even designed a custom mixer to be able to record the ETA IVtet, specifically, while only taking up a single space at the bar. In his liner notes for The Way Out of Easy, he colors his process and approach: “There are many different ways to make recordings and they all have their place. But for this band, the most important thing to consider is: not doing anything to get in the way of what they are saying to each other.” He refers to the simple schematic he used for capturing these performances – “basically only 4 level controls for one microphone per player” – which allows us an incredibly pure, honest, transparent and transporting experience of the music as it unfolds and is created in real time.
I hear all kinds of echos including Grant Green (always a good thing) and John McLaughlin’s 1969 quiet wonder Extrapolations but this recording perfectly captures what these masterful players were saying to each other a year and a day ago.
Also check out Jeff Parker’s Album of the Week Forfolks and Daniel Villarreal’s Lados B featuring Parker and Anna Butterss.