Jazz guitar fans may be unaware of Emily and that’s not too surprising, this being the first release of her music in 34 Years!
Culled from a previously unreleased collection of performances that were broadcast on KNPR Las Vegas in 1984 and 1988 as part of Alan Grant’s weekly radio program, “4 Queens’ Jazz Night from Las Vegas,” Cookin’ at the Queens captures Remler in quartet performances with pianist Cocho Arbe, bassist Carson Smith and drummer Tom Montgomery (1984) and trio performances with bassist Carson Smith and drummer John Pisci (1988).
I didn’t know very much about Emily’s career either, until this release came to our notice - I knew of her on an excellent 1989 album that I have from pianist David Benoit on the GRP label ‘Waiting for Spring’. She rose to attention during the 1980s, with half a dozen fine albums for Concord Jazz and winning annual Down Beat Magazine guitar polls.
I’m putting my own negligence right by seeking out more of her work…her talent and significance demands it - but good luck finding earlier treasures on vinyl! Any more on the horizon, Resonance?
Sadly, Emily was gone the very next year after that David Benoit album. She sadly left us in May1990 at age 32, when she died of a heart attack. She’s no longer with us - so we must covet her legacy and it is to the credit of Resonance Records that these excellent live performances will now see the light of day.
Hearing the Cookin’ at the Queens live set made me realise what I’d largely missed - a rare talent, an under-appreciated jazz guitar great, her memory perhaps displaced by the passage of time - so now, it is indeed a privilege to help bring her back to wider attention.
This is a tremendously enjoyable ‘lost’ live set from a lesser-known but hugely talented jazz guitarist. It’s a special jazz artifact; the limited-edition 180-gram triple-LP set has been mastered for vinyl from the original tape reels in the UNLV archives by Bernie Grundman. The digital download sounds superb – but I now I hanker after it on vinyl!
Over a few decades, my vinyl OCD has drawn me into creating some dedicated ‘genre’ and ‘favourites’ LP shelves, and I do have a ‘guitarists’ section - for no good reason than that it’s fun to have lots of my favourite guitarists in one place!
These A-Z shelves have some 70 guitarists’ albums therein - Emily wasn’t among them, as her LPs are hard to find - nor were ANY female jazz guitar players - which demonstrates the rarity of her talent and dearth of successful ladies in the genre. I’ve now obtained Emily’s superb ‘East to Wes’ LP (Concord Jazz CJ-356, 1988) and that LP now rightly takes its place in my ‘Guitar’ ranks.
She won Downbeat’s Guitarist of the Year in 1985, was married to Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander during the early 1980s, then having a brief relationship with guitarist Larry Coryell, with whom she released the album ‘Together’. She also toured with Astrud Gilberto.She’s a mellow and melodic player; soulful, swinging and unrestrained; the influences of Grant Green, Herb Ellis -and especially, her hero Wes Montgomery - run through these performances. You can add in other Remler favourites, like Pat Martino and George Benson. That’s hardly a bad tally of heroes - but make no mistake, this player is very much her own woman.
In a 1982 interview with People magazine, she said: "I may look like a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey, but inside I'm a 50-year-old, heavy-set black man with a big thumb, like Wes Montgomery."
She was a true guitar virtuoso, revered by her peers - inventive, confident, she could play harder or softer to fit the tune or mood. Emily had many admirers among her fellow musicians and this Deluxe Resonance Records set includes tributes and memories from some of them in the sleeve notes.
It’s a great recording and the audience is appreciative but not intrusive. There are many highlights as Emily plays with the fire and freedom of a true master.
The set on release is stocked with jazz standards you’ve heard plenty of times from many players and bands - yet they seem so fresh and satisfying in the capable hands of Emily and her cohort.
There’s ‘Moanin’, ‘Autumn Leaves’, ‘All Blues’ and ‘So What’, for instance among the selections but they all have Emily’s unmistakable craft and class - and stand comparison with any other versions.
Emily strikes out with plenty of dazzling runs and lightning solos throughout; she’s willing to give her excellent sidemen plenty of solo limelight too. It’s clear that the musicians enjoy playing together and feed well off each other as they spur each other on to consistently excellent performances.
I can’t frame Emily’s standing as a jazz guitar great any better than Zev Feldman, co-producer of this Resonance Records release, who said: “As time goes by, some artists’ legacies get even more interesting and become more important, and I think Emily Remler is such a significant artist. She needs to be talked about and discussed more. She was a trailblazer and I hope these recordings are going to contribute to and validate her story and her importance.”
CD Track Listings:
Disc 1:
1 Moanin’ (9:49)
2 How Insensitive (9:55)
3 Autumn Leaves (8:07)
4 Polka Dots and Moonbeams (10:05)
5 Meditation (8:56)
6 Hot House / What Is This Thing Called Love? (6:00)
7 You Don’t Know What Love Is (11:05)
8 West Coast Blues (12:02)
9 Tenor Madness (4:49)
Disc 2:
1 Out of Nowhere 8:16)
2 Manha De Carnaval (13:34)
3 Cisco (6:13)
4 Yesterdays (8:18)
5 All Blues (13:13)
6 Someday My Prince Will Come (9:01)
7 So What / Impressions (11:11)
8 D-Natural Blues (8:17)
