Here on her birthday we celebrate Emily the composer, with a diverse selection of her own compositions that span her career and ever growing interest in music of all forms.

This collection includes:
Avant-garde – Antonio from Catwalk (very modern sounding, ‘out-there’, unusual melody and solo)
Modal – Pedals from Catwalk (deep, spiritual and yet playful and light in parts, a musical journey)
Latin – Carenia from This Is Me (complex arrangement, thematic development)
Ballad – Waltz For My Grandfather from Take Two (heartfelt, emotive)
Bebop – The Firefly from Firefly (uptempo bop at its hippest, question and answer lines)

September

gives me reason to fall in love all over again with the music of Emily Remler, as we commemorate year 53 on her upcoming birthday of September 18th.

This is the time to dig deeper into her work, to find that song on an early or unpublished album that you haven’t paid attention to in depth and give it a fresh listen, a process which always leaves me reflective of what could have been, who she might have played with by now had she made it this far down the road.
My daydreams fiercely envision Emily and Sheryl Bailey taking a stage together. What a powerful moment to visualize, two such distinguished and seasoned players setting history straight. I like to imagine she and Sheryl would have worked on a “Together” style album, naturally becoming a landmark for jazz guitar duets. I’m convinced Emily would have eventually toured in South America and had performances there with Jobim, Lubambo and even her early influence, Egberto Gismonti, as she continued to explore her love of Latin jazz. She would have definitely made many fine appearances with cherished friends and mentors Herb Ellis and Pat Martino along the way and I have no doubt several albums would have been released, both studio and live with her adored trio of Kelly Roberti and Brad Edwards. Most certainly at some point we would have been treated to a few duo recordings from Em and Kelly, maybe one comprised of their favorite Beatles songs, which they played often on their many tours in tandem but regrettably never captured on tape.
When I close my eyes, these things I hear with vivid clarity, and so much more. So let’s talk about Emily. Share your thoughts with us, of where she might have gone with her career and who you would have loved to hear her play with, as we celebrate our deepening admiration of Emily together.

Em’s Medley composed from “Here’s That Rainy Day” – Hunter/Remler/Goldstein | “Polka Dots & Moonbeams” – Remler/Roberti/Edwards | “How Insensitive” – Remler/Roberti/Edwards | “A Taste Of Honey” – Remler | “Snowfall” – Remler/Williams/Smith

This performance was recorded by Brad Edwards and graciously shared by teacher, composer and double bass extraordinaire, Kelly Roberti. Feel free to visit him @ KellyRoberti.com and offer a personal note of thanks for his generosity for this and other archives he has provided to ATE over the years for the memory of his beloved Emily.