Emily Remler
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| Emily Remler | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 18, 1957 New York, New York, USA |
| Died | May 4, 1990 (age 32) Sydney, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Jazz |
| Years active | 1980 - 1990 |
Emily Remler (September 18, 1957 – May 4, 1990) was an American jazz guitarist who rose to prominence in the 1980s. She recorded seven albums of bop, jazz standards and fusion guitar before dying of heart failure at the age of 32 at the Connells Point home of musician Ed Gaston, while on tour in Australia. While women thrive in the field of classical music, there have been very few great female jazz or rock guitarists, throughout a tragically brief career Remler constantly proved herself a notable exception.
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[edit] Career
Born in New York City, Emily began to play the guitar at the age of ten and she continued to excel in her musical studies at the Berklee School of Music from 1976 to 1979. She worked in blues and jazz clubs in New Orleans, working with bands such as FourPlay and Little Queenie and the Percolators before beginning her recording career in 1981. She was championed by guitar great Herb Ellis, who referred to her as "the new superstar of guitar".[1]
"I may look like a nice jewish girl from New Jersey, but inside I’m a 50-year-old, heavyset black man with a big thumb, like Wes Montgomery." ~People Mag. 1982~
Recording for the famous Concord label, Emily's albums showcase the diverse influences of a fast developing artist who quickly developed a distinctive style through versions of standard tunes and genres. Her first album as a band leader Firefly won immediate acclaim and her bop guitar on the follow up Take Two was equally well received. Transitions and Catwalk traced the emergence of a more individual voice, with many striking original tunes, while her love of Wes Montgomery shone through on the stylish East to Wes.
| “ | When the rhythm section is floating, I'll float too, and I'll get a wonderful feeling in my stomach. If the rhythm section is really swinging, it's such a great feeling, you just want to laugh. - Emily Remler | ” |
In addition to her recording career as a band leader and composer, Emily played in blues groups, on Broadway and with artists as diverse as Larry Coryell, with whom she recorded an album entitled 'Together', and the singer Rosemary Clooney. She played for the Los Angeles version of the show 'Sophisticated Ladies' from 1981 - 1982 and produced two popular guitar instruction videos. She also worked as guitarist for Astrud Gilberto. In 1985 she won the ‘ Guitarist Of The Year’ award in DownBeat Jazz Magazine’s international poll. In 1988 she was 'Artist in Residence' at Duquesne University and in 1989 received Berklee's Distinguished Alumni award.
She married Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander in 1981, the marriage ending in 1984.
Her first guitar was her elder brother's Gibson ES-330 while her B120 HollowBody Electric featured heavily towards the end of the eighties. Her acoustic guitars included a 1984 Collectors Series Ovation and a nylon strung Korocusci Classical Guitar for Bossa Nova.
When asked how she wanted to be remembered she remarked
"Good compositions, memorable guitar playing and my contributions as a woman in music…. but the music is everything, and it has nothing to do with politics or the women’s liberation movement."
Two tribute albums were recorded after her untimely death, 'Just Friends' volume one and two, featuring contributions from Herb Ellis, David Benoit, Bill O’Connell and David Beberg among many others. In 2006 the Skip Heller Quartet recorded a song called 'Emily Remler' in her memory.
[edit] Discography
 1981 |
 1982 |
 1983 |
 1984 |
 1985 |
 1988 |
 1990 |
 1991 |
 1991 |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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