F or a short while I took guitar lessons from one of the finest female jazz guitarists since Mary Osborne. F eller en kort, mens jeg tog guitaren erfaringer fra et af de fineste kvindelige jazz guitarister siden Mary Osborne. I never became a great guitarist, but that's because I never put in the time it takes to be a great guitarist. Jeg har aldrig blev en stor guitarist, men det er fordi jeg aldrig sat i den tid det tager at være en stor guitarist. Emily on the other hand, lived and breathed the guitar. Emily på den anden side, levede og åndede for guitar.

O ne day I arrived at Emily's apartment to take a lesson and there she was in a leg cast and on crutches, having not exactly had the greatest time skiing. O ne dag jeg ankom til Emily's lejlighed til at tage en lektion, og der var hun i et ben støbt og på krykker, der ikke just havde den største tid skiløb. I told her Joe Pass was coming to town and he was performing on a double-bill with Jim Hall. Jeg fortalte hende Joe Pass var på vej til byen, og han optrådte på en dobbelt-bill med Jim Hall. She said that she knew about it and she'd really love to go, especially since she was a good friend of Jim Halls, but there's one problem she said “at the moment I can't walk”. Hun sagde, at hun vidste det og hun ville virkelig elske at gå, især da hun var en god ven af Jim Halls, men der er et problem, sagde hun "i det øjeblik, jeg ikke kan gå". I said “Emily, you're not heavy, so I'll just get as close to the Blue Note as I can and I'll carry you.” So, sure enough a few nights later I picked Emily up and drove down into Greenwich Village, found a spot on the north side of Washington Square Park and Emily got on my back and I carried her to the Blue Note. Jeg sagde "Emily, er du ikke tung, så jeg vil bare så tæt på Blue Note, som jeg kan, og jeg vil bære dig." Så sikker nok et par nætter senere Jeg tog Emily op og kørte ned i Greenwich Village, fandt en plet på den nordlige side af Washington Square Park og Emily fik på min ryg og jeg bar hende til Blue Note.

I wish I had a tape recorder with me that night, because up in the dressing room after the first set Emily asked Jim if she could borrow his beautiful cherry colored guitar. Jeg ville ønske jeg havde en båndoptager med mig den nat, da op i omklædningsrummet efter første sæt Emily spurgte Jim om hun kunne låne hans smukke kirsebær farvet guitar. Joe told her to play a tune with him. Joe fortalte hende at spille en melodi med ham. They had one beautiful interchange after another and it was something the rest audience downstairs never got to see. De havde en smuk udveksling efter den anden, og det var noget resten publikum nedenunder aldrig fik at se.

After playing with Joe, rather than stay for the 2nd set Emily asked me how my back was and wanted to know if I'd mind checking out Leni Stern, because she was playing that night at the 55 Bar on Christopher Street. Efter at have spillet med Joe, snarere end ophold for 2. sæt Emily spurgte mig, hvordan min ryg var og ønskede at vide, hvis jeg havde tankerne checke ud Leni Stern, fordi hun var ved at spille samme aften på 55 Bar på Christopher Street. So, playing horse again, we made our way over a few more blocks. Så spiller hest igen, vi gjorde vores vej over et par mere blokke.

What thrilled Emily that night was seeing not only two legendary guitarists at the Blue Note, but seeing another wonderful guitarist, who was also a great writer. Hvad begejstret Emily den aften var at se ikke kun to legendariske guitarister på Blue Note, men at se en anden vidunderlig guitarist, som også var en stor forfatter. Emily said “hey, I know I've got the chops, but I would love to write like Leni”. Emily sagde "hey, jeg ved jeg har fået den koteletter, men jeg ville elske at skrive som Leni".

L eni was playing that night with a blazing guitarist named Wayne Krantz and as always her solos were silky smooth. L eni spillede den aften med en flammende guitarist ved navn Wayne Krantz og som altid hendes soli var silkeglat. I'll tell more about Leni another time, but what I saw that night made me realize that every talented individual has something to glean from another. Jeg vil fortælle mere om Leni en anden gang, men hvad jeg så den nat fik mig til at indse, at hver talentfulde person har noget at indsamle fra hinanden.
B eautiful music is always an interchange. B eautiful musik er altid en udveksling.

In early 1985 I met Emily Remler, a young jazz guitarist who was getting some well-deserved attention at the time. I begyndelsen af 1985 mødte jeg Emily Remler, en ung jazz guitarist, der var at få nogle velfortjente opmærksomhed på det tidspunkt. I heard one of her records, a trio setting with my old friends Bob Moses and Eddie Gomez on drums and bass and was impressed. Jeg hørte en af hendes optegnelser, en trio indstilling med mine gamle venner Bob Moses og Eddie Gomez på trommer og bas og var imponeret. Emily was creative, smart, swung like crazy, and had a time feel that was just about the best I had ever heard from any guitarist, male or female. Emily var kreativ, smart, svang som en sindssyg, og havde en tid føler, der var lige omkring det bedste jeg nogensinde havde hørt fra nogen guitarist, mand eller kvinde.

Emily and I started playing together as a duo. Emily og jeg begyndte at spille sammen som en duo. We toured the United States and Europe off and on for about a year and were briefly involved romantically, until I realized that we had very little in common. Vi turnerede i USA og Europa og slukke for omkring et år og var kortvarigt involveret romantisk, indtil jeg indså, at vi havde meget lidt til fælles. We made a duet record for Concord Records, Together , which still stands up today, I think, especially as a testament to Emily's genius. Vi har lavet en duet rekord for Concord Records, sammen, som stadig står op i dag, tror jeg, især fordi et bevis på Emily's geni. When the record was released there was lot of reaction from the jazz guitar community. Da pladen blev udgivet var der masser af reaktioner fra jazz guitar samfund. One publication, The Texas Monthly , had a long article analyzing the different soloing approaches we had. En publikation, The Texas Monthly, havde en lang artikel at analysere de forskellige solo tilgange vi havde. They surmised that Neal Tesser, who wrote the liner notes, had confused my playing with Emily's and Emily's playing with mine! De anede, at Neal Tesser, der skrev liner notes, havde forvekslet min omgang med Emily's og Emily spilles med min! I thought that was kinda funny because ever since I started doing two-guitar things, even musicians who knew both of us sometimes couldn't tell us apart. Jeg troede det var kinda sjovt, fordi lige siden jeg startede med at lave to-guitar ting, selv musikere, der kendte os begge til tider ikke kunne fortælle os fra hinanden. The first example of this I recall came from Jack Bruce, who also said he couldn't tell me from John McLaughlin when he first heard “Spaces”. Det første eksempel herpå kan jeg huske kom fra Jack Bruce, som også sagde, at han ikke kunne fortælle mig fra John McLaughlin, da han første gang hørte "Spaces". But where McLaughlin came off sounding like a high-flying rocket, Emily was like a poet when she played. Men hvor McLaughlin kom ud at lyde som en højtflyvende raket, Emily var som en digter, når hun spillede. I recall one bizarre incident on tour in Germany when we were in a doctor's office. Jeg husker en bizar hændelse på turné i Tyskland, da vi var i en læge kontor. The doctor had a guitar there, an entry-level solid-body, with a small amp. Lægen havde en guitar der, en entry-level solid-organ, med en lille forstærker. Emily picked it up and plugged in and started playing just with her fingers – no pick. Emily tog den op og sat i og begyndte at spille bare med fingrene - ingen pick. We were all mesmerized by what she was doing: chords, timing, feel, counterpoint, and spontaneity. Vi var alle mesmerized af, hvad hun gjorde: akkorder, timing, føle, kontrapunkt, og spontanitet.

Emily died an untimely and all-too-early death in 1990 at the age of 32. Emily døde en utidig og alt for tidlige død i 1990 i en alder af 32. Monty Alexander, her ex-husband, said it best; “She's out of town. Monty Alexander, hendes ex-mand, sagde, at det bedste, "Hun er ude af byen. She'll be back” – I believe that – the music was just too good. Hun vil være tilbage "- Jeg tror - musikken var bare for god.