Emily Remler - Retrospective Volume One: "Standards"

Styles: Bop, Cool Jazz
Year: 1981
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:33
Size: 141,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:20) 1. Daahoud
(8:33) 2. How Insensitive
(5:33) 3. Strollin'
(5:45) 4. Hot House
(4:56) 5. In Your Own Sweet Way
(5:50) 6. Joy Spring
(8:24) 7. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
(2:28) 8. Afro Blue
(6:50) 9. Del Sasser
(7:49) 10. In A Sentimental Mood

This is the first of two CDs issued by Concord Jazz compiling some of the best tracks from Emily Remler's sessions for that label. Cut short at a far too early age by a heart condition while touring in Australia, Remler had all the talent necessary to carve herself a niche in the jazz world as a premier jazz guitar interpreter and performer. Retrospective, Vol. 1 is probably the superior of the two volumes, as it includes, among other gems, an enticing unaccompanied rendition of "Afro Blue." Remler had the ability to be expressively warm with a romantic ballad, as on "In a Sentimental Mood," but she excelled on tunes that allowed her to bring out her hard bop credentials, especially in the company of similarly tough-minded rhythm sections.

She displays those credentials on several tracks, such as "Hot House" and "Daahoud," where she is joined by the inestimable Hank Jones on piano and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums. "Del Sasser" is the sole representative from that intriguing album she made with trumpet player John D'earth. On this cut, D'earth plays muted trumpet under a clean, straight-lined Remler guitar with a rather unusual scrimpy, but pleasing, sound as the result. Indeed an appropriate testimonial to a fine guitarist, this album is recommended for those who want an overview of the work by Remler without having to buy all the albums from whence the selections came.~Dave Nathan https://www.allmusic.com/album/retrospective-vol-1-standards-mw0000262616

Retrospective Volume One "Standards"

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Emily Remler - Retrospective, Volume Two "Compositions"

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1981
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:53
Size: 139,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:30) 1. Mocha Space
(5:02) 2. Nunca Mais
(6:39) 3. Waltz For My Grandfather
(7:24) 4. Catwalk
(6:28) 5. Blues For Herb
(8:03) 6. Transitions
(4:10) 7. The Firefly
(6:17) 8. East To Wes
(4:30) 9. Antonio
(7:46) 10. Mozambique

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 hard bop, jazz standards and fusion guitar.

Born in New York City, Remler began to play the guitar at the age of ten. Initially inspired by rock artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter as well as other popular styles of music, she experienced a musical epiphany during her studies from 1974 to 1976 at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She began to listen to such legendary jazz greats as Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Pat Martino, Charlie Christian, Miles Davis and John Coltrane and took up jazz with a ferocious intensity, practicing almost constantly and never looked back. After graduating Berklee at age 18 she started her professional career touring around the USA.

Remler's first significant and formative step as a fledgling professional musician was to settle in New Orleans where she played in blues and jazz clubs 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". Ellis introduced her to the world at the Concord, CA Jazz Festival in 1978. In an interview with People magazine, she once said of herself: "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~ Recorded for the famous Concord label, Remler's albums showcase the diverse influences of a fast-developing artist who quickly attained a distinctive jazz style on the guitar through her interpretations of jazz standards and her own compositions.

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, Remler played with artists as diverse as Larry Coryell, with whom she recorded an album entitled Together, and the singer Rosemary Clooney. She played on Broadway for the Los Angeles version of the show 'Sophisticated Ladies' from 1981 to 1982 and produced two popular guitar instruction videos. She also toured for several years in the early eighties as guitarist for Astrud Gilberto.

In 1985, she won the ‘Guitarist Of The Year’ award in Down Beat 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, and she played a Borys B120 hollow body electric towards the end of the 1980s. Her acoustic guitars included a 1984 Collectors Series Ovation and a nylon string Korocusci classical guitar that she used for playing 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." She appealed to all audiences with her wide understanding of all forms of jazz. She gained respect from fellow musicians and critics because of her dedication, enthusiasm and remarkable skill. Remler, who was a heroin addict, died of heart failure at the age of 32 at the Connells Point home of musician Ed Gaston, while on tour in Australia. Two tribute albums were recorded after her death, Just Friends volume one and two, featuring contributions from Herb Ellis, David Benoit, Bill O'Connell and David Bromberg among many others. In 2006 the Skip Heller Quartet recorded a song called "Emily Remler" in her memory. https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/emily-remler

Personnel: Guitar – Emily Remler; Bass – Bob Maize, Buster Williams, Don Thompson, Eddie Gomez; Drums – Jake Hanna, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Terry Clarke; Drums, Percussion – Bob Moses; Piano – Hank Jones, James Williams ; Trumpet – John D'Earth

Retrospective, Volume Two "Compositions"

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Susannah McCorkle - Ballad Essentials

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:26
Size: 129.2 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[5:18] 1. How Long Has This Been Going On
[4:07] 2. You Go To My Head
[3:10] 3. For All We Know
[4:25] 4. Why Don't We Try Staying Home
[3:31] 5. Skylark
[4:47] 6. Manha De Carnaval
[5:00] 7. Nuages
[5:09] 8. The People You Never Get To Love
[5:38] 9. Let's Face The Music And Dance
[6:04] 10. There's No Business Like Show Business
[5:02] 11. It Never Entered My Mind
[4:10] 12. P.S. I Love You

Noted for the beauty of her voice and ability to freshen up the most tired lyric, Susannah McCorkle left behind an impressive and large body of work at the time of her death in 2001. Ballad Essentials concentrates onMcCorkle's softer side, collecting a dozen pieces recorded for Concord between 1983 and 2000. A remarkable cadre including Ken Peplowski, Emily Remler, and Bucky Pizzarelli join her on a variety of standards by Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, and the Gershwin brothers. The arrangements vary from vocal/guitar duets with Howard Alden and Al Gafa to the small-orchestra backing of "Let's Face the Music and Dance." There's an enjoyable, intimate version of "Why Don't We Try Staying at Home" and an elegant rendering of "Skylark." It's notable that McCorkle, like Ella Fitzgerald, chooses to include the verse, or beginning, of songs like "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "It Never Entered My Mind." A lovely rendition of Django Reinhardt's "Nuages," complete with French and English lyrics, provides a pleasant surprise, while "Manhã de Carnaval (Sunrise)" displays McCorkle's ability as an interpreter of South American material. For those less familiar with the great vocalist's work, Ballad Essentials serves as an excellent primer. For fans, the album gathers a dozen similarly toned pieces, or an hour's worth of music, in one place. A fine collection. ~Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.

Ballad Essentials

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Emily Remler - East To Wes

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1988
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:40
Size: 119,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:19)  1. Daahound
(6:39)  2. Snowfall
(5:45)  3. Hot House
(5:38)  4. Sweet Georgie Fame
(7:25)  5. Ballad For A Music Box
(6:26)  6. Blues For Herb
(8:14)  7. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
(6:12)  8. East To Wes

The late guitarist's last CD to be released before her premature death is her finest effort. Emily Remler's fluid technique brightens such seldom-heard numbers as Clifford Brown's "Daahoud" and her simplified arrangement of Claude Thornhill's lovely "Snowfall," as well as more relaxed tunes like "Sweet Georgia Fame." 

The polished rhythm section includes the masterful pianist Hank Jones, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith. Highly recommended.~Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/east-to-wes-mw0000201311

Personnel: Emily Remler (acoustic & electric guitars); Hank Jones (piano); Buster Williams (bass); Marvin "Smitty" Smith (drums).

East To Wes

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Emily Remler - This Is Me

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:38
Size: 130,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:26)  1. Deep In A Trance
(4:51)  2. Majestic Dance
(6:17)  3. "E" Samba
(4:52)  4. Love Colors
(4:48)  5. Dark Passage
(4:51)  6. You Know What I'm Saying
(5:38)  7. Song For Maggie
(5:13)  8. Around The Bend
(6:19)  9. Carenia
(4:55) 10. Simplicidaje
(3:23) 11. Second Childhood

Emily Remler's first and tragically, her last excursion into electric jazz-pop indicates that she could have become a strong force in that area had she not died. Though Remler's Concord recordings earned her a great deal of respect in hard bop circles, she felt limited creatively and was quite anxious to experiment in the electric realm. On her final session, This Is Me, the guitarist incorporates pop and rock elements on her own terms maintaining her musical integrity and avoiding radio-oriented smooth jazz drivel altogether. 

What remains constant is the warm and lyrical nature of her playing. While the influence of Wes Montgomery and Herb Ellis remains, some of these pieces indicate that she was paying close attention to Pat Metheny.~Alex Henderson http://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-me-mw0000115667

Personnel: Emily Remler (guitar, guitar synthesizer); Maucha Adnet (vocals); Jay Ashby (trombone, percussion); Aydin Esen (piano, keyboards); Bill O'Connell (piano); David Benoit, Russ Freeman (keyboards); Romero Lubambo (acoustic guitar); Lincoln Goines, Jimmy Johnson (bass); Jeff Porcaro, Ricky Sebastian, Daduka Fonseca (drums); Luis Conte, Jeffrey Weber, Cafe (percussion).

This Is Me

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Emily Remler - Firefly

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1981
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:16
Size: 92,6 MB
Art: Front + Back

(5:34)  1. Strollin'
(5:27)  2. Look To The Sky
(4:10)  3. Perk's Blues
(4:10)  4. The Firefly
(5:35)  5. Movin' Along
(2:14)  6. A Taste Of Honey
(5:13)  7. Inception
(7:49)  8. In A Sentimental Mood

It sounds very clichéd to say that many of music's best and brightest have lived fast and died young, but it is so true. From Jimi Hendrix to Charlie Parker to Patsy Cline, the 20th century was full of talented artists whose lives were cut short by their self-destructive ways. In an ideal world, Emily Remler would have had a very long career and made it to seventy or eighty; instead, the guitarist used heroin and died of a heart attack at 32. Firefly was Remler's first album as a leader, and it is a promising debut. Joined by pianist Hank Jones, bassist Bob Maize, and drummer Jake Hanna, a 24-year-old Remler delivers an enjoyable hard bop date. The album isn't groundbreaking by early-'80s standards although Firefly was recorded in 1981, it sounds like it could have been recorded in 1961. But there is no law stating that every young jazz musician who comes along has to reinvent the wheel, and Remler (whose influences include Wes Montgomery and Herb Ellis) brings a lot of potential to lively, swinging performances of Horace Silver's "Strollin'," McCoy Tyner's "Inception," and Montgomery's "Movin' Along." The New Jersey native also provides two original tunes ("Perk's Blues" and "The Firefly") and pleasantly surprises listeners by unearthing a pretty but lesser-known Antonio Carlos Jobim song titled "Look to the Sky." Unlike "The Girl From Ipanema," "Corcovado," or "One Note Samba," "Look to the Sky" is far from a standard; however, Remler's heartfelt interpretation demonstrates that the Jobim melody deserves to be much better known. With Firefly, Remler's recording career was off to an appealing start a career that should have been much, much longer.~Alex Henderson http://www.allmusic.com/album/firefly-mw0000076149

Personnel: Emily Remler (guitar), Hank Jones (piano), Bob Maize (bass), Jake Hanna (drums).

Firefly

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Emily Remler - Take Two

Styles: Guitar Jazz

Year: 1982

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 44:27

Size: 102,1 MB

Art: Front

(4:54)  1. Cannonball

(4:58)  2. In Your Own Sweet Way

(6:48)  3. For Regulars Only

(5:23)  4. Search for Peace

(6:50)  5. Pocket Wes

(6:41)  6. Waltz for My Grandfather

(2:30)  7. Afro Blue

(6:20)  8. Eleuthra

Emily Remler's second recording as a leader finds the 24-year-old guitarist still very much playing in the Wes Montgomery vein, although showing her own musical personality here and there. She is joined by pianist James Williams, bassist Don Thompson, and drummer Terry Clarke on a challenging set of material filled with obscurities. Certainly such numbers as Cannonball Adderley's "Cannonball," Dexter Gordon's "For Regulars Only," McCoy Tyner's "Search for Peace," and Monty Alexander's "Eleuthra" are rarely performed. Better known are "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "Afro Blue"; Remler also contributes two originals. Throughout the date the guitarist displays a great deal of potential, much of which would sadly go unrealized due to her early death. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/take-two-mw0000076188

Personnel: Emily Remler (guitar), James Williams (piano), Don Thompson (bass), Terry Clarke (drums).

Take Two

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Larry Coryell & Emily Remler - Together

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1985
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:15
Size: 103,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:55)  1. Arubian Nights
(5:50)  2. Joy Spring
(6:32)  3. Ill Wind
(5:49)  4. How My Heart Sings
(7:03)  5. Six Beats, Six Strings
(5:34)  6. Gerri's Blues
(8:30)  7. How Insensitive

This interesting and one-time matchup features Larry Coryell and Emily Remler on a set of guitar duets. It is easy to tell the two players apart, yet their styles were quite complementary. Highlights of the date (which has four standards, Pat Martino's "Gerri's Blues," and two Coryell originals) include "Joy Spring," "How My Heart Sings" and "How Insensitive." ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/together-mw0000649460

Personnel: Larry Coryell (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Emily Remler (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar)

Together

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