Into The Music
Jeff Parker is one of those musicians who keeps showing up in the most interesting places without ever quite getting the mainstream recognition his work deserves. He is the guitarist for Tortoise, the Chicago post-rock institution that has been one of the more quietly influential bands in experimental music since the early 1990s. He’s also been a central figure in the Chicago jazz scene, the kind of musician who can sit in on a session with anyone and make it better without drawing attention to himself.
His ETA IVtet quartet has a new album coming May 15 on International Anthem, called Happy Today. The record spans two tracks, each running over 20 minutes, and was recorded live at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles. The context matters: Parker and his family were displaced for eight months by the Eaton fires of 2025, a period of genuine instability that he described as taking a serious toll. The album is, in his words, “a statement of joy” made on the other side of that.
International Anthem has become one of the most important labels in contemporary jazz and experimental music, releasing records by Makaya McCraven, Rob Mazur, and others who are doing the most interesting work in the space between jazz, electronics, and improvisation. Parker fits that world completely: his guitar playing is rooted in jazz tradition but never confined to it, and the ETA IVtet format, a quartet built around extended live performance, suits his strengths.
A concert film of the Happy Today recording will premiere in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland ahead of the album’s May 15 release, with the film getting a wider release May 29. The quartet will play residency shows at the Lodge Room in August.
Happy Today is out May 15 on International Anthem.