Remembering the life and music of legendary jazz guitarist Emily Remler Huske livet og musikken til den legendariske jazz-gitarist Emily Remler

F or a short while I took guitar lessons from one of the finest female jazz guitarists since Mary Osborne. F eller en liten stund tok jeg gitar leksjoner fra en av de fineste kvinnelige jazz-gitarister 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 ble aldri en stor gitarist, men det er fordi jeg aldri satt i den tiden det tar å bli en stor gitarist. Emily on the other hand, lived and breathed the guitar. Emily derimot, levde og åndet gitar.

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 dagen jeg ankom Emily's leilighet å ta en leksjon og der hun var i en etappe støpt og på krykker, og har ikke akkurat hatt størst tid på ski. I told her Joe Pass was coming to town and he was performing on a double-bill with Jim Hall. Jeg fortalte henne Joe Pass kom til byen, og han opptrådte på en dobbel-regning 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 sa at hun visste om det og hun hadde virkelig elsker å gå, spesielt siden hun var en god venn av Jim Halls, men det er ett problem sa hun "i øyeblikket kan jeg ikke 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 sa "Emily, du er ikke tung, så jeg skal bare komme så nær Blue Note som jeg kan og jeg vil bære deg." Så sikker nok et par netter senere jeg plukket Emily opp og kjørte ned i Greenwich Village, funnet en plass på nordsiden av Washington Square Park og Emily kom på ryggen og jeg bar henne 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 skulle ønske jeg hadde en båndopptaker med meg den natten, fordi opp i garderoben etter det første settet Emily Jim spurte om hun kunne låne hans vakre kirsebær fargede gitar. Joe told her to play a tune with him. Joe fortalte henne å spille en melodi sammen med ham. They had one beautiful interchange after another and it was something the rest audience downstairs never got to see. De hadde en flott utveksling etter hverandre og det var noe resten publikum nede aldri fikk 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. Etter å ha spilt med Joe, i stedet for opphold for 2. satt Emily spurte meg hvordan ryggen min var, og ville vite om jeg hadde tankene sjekke ut Leni Stern, fordi hun spilte den kvelden ved 55 bar på Christopher Street. So, playing horse again, we made our way over a few more blocks. Så spiller hesten igjen, gjorde vi veien over noen flere blokker.

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. Hva begeistret Emily den kvelden var å se ikke bare to legendariske gitarister på Blue Note, men ser en fantastisk gitarist, 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 sa "hei, jeg vet jeg har fått koteletter, men jeg ville elske å 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 spilte den kvelden med en flammende gitarist ved navn Wayne Krantz og som alltid sine soloer var silkemyk. 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 skal fortelle mer om Leni annen gang, men det jeg så at natt fikk meg til å innse at hvert individ har noe talent for å fange opp fra en annen.
B eautiful music is always an interchange. B eautiful musikk er alltid en utveksling.

In early 1985 I met Emily Remler, a young jazz guitarist who was getting some well-deserved attention at the time. I 1985 tidlig møtte jeg Emily Remler, en ung jazzgitarist som var å få noen velfortjente oppmerksomhet på den tiden. 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 av sine poster, en trio setting med mine gamle venner Bob Moses og Eddie Gomez på trommer og bass, og var imponert. 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, svinger som gale, og hadde en tid føler det var omtrent det beste jeg hadde hørt fra en gitarist, mann eller kvinne.

Emily and I started playing together as a duo. Emily og jeg begynte å 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 turnerte i USA og Europa av og på i ca et år og var en kort stund involvert kjærester, før jeg innså at vi hadde svært lite felles. 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 gjorde en duett rekord for Concord Records, sammen, som fortsatt står opp i dag, tror jeg, særlig som et testament til Emily geni. When the record was released there was lot of reaction from the jazz guitar community. Da plata ble sluppet var det mye reaksjon fra jazz gitar samfunnet. One publication, The Texas Monthly , had a long article analyzing the different soloing approaches we had. En publikasjon, The Texas Monthly, hadde en lang artikkel analysere ulike soloing tilnærminger vi hadde. They surmised that Neal Tesser, who wrote the liner notes, had confused my playing with Emily's and Emily's playing with mine! De mente at Neal Tesser, som skrev liner notes hadde forvekslet meg leke med Emily og Emily leker 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 trodde det var ganske morsomt fordi helt siden jeg begynte å gjøre to ting gitar, selv musikere som kjente oss begge ganger kunne ikke fortelle hverandre. 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 eksempelet på dette husker jeg kom fra Jack Bruce, som også sa at han kunne ikke fortelle meg fra John McLaughlin da han først 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 ut høres som et high-flying rakett, Emily var som en dikter når hun spilte. I recall one bizarre incident on tour in Germany when we were in a doctor's office. Jeg husker en bisarr hendelse på turné i Tyskland da vi var på et legekontor. The doctor had a guitar there, an entry-level solid-body, with a small amp. Legen hadde en gitar der, en entry-level solid-kropp, med en liten forsterker. Emily picked it up and plugged in and started playing just with her fingers – no pick. Emily tok den opp og plugget inn og begynte å spille bare med fingrene - ikke hakke. We were all mesmerized by what she was doing: chords, timing, feel, counterpoint, and spontaneity. Vi var alle hypnotisert av hva hun gjorde: akkorder, timing, føler, kontrapunkt, og spontanitet.

Emily died an untimely and all-too-early death in 1990 at the age of 32. Emily døde en altfor tidlig og altfor tidlige død i 1990 i en alder av 32. Monty Alexander, her ex-husband, said it best; “She's out of town. Monty Alexander, hennes eks-mann, sa det best, «She's out of town. She'll be back” – I believe that – the music was just too good. Hun kommer tilbake "- Jeg tror at - musikken var bare for god.