Emily Remler: Cookin' at the Queens Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988
Resonance Records

With this terrific set of live Emily Remler recordings, producer Zev Feldman has teamed with journalist Bill Milkowski and Resonance Records to return the guitarist to the spotlight and honour a much-admired figure whose premature passing robbed the jazz world of a major talent. What makes this release so essential is that it's the first release in thirty-four years of Remler material and thus serves as a stunning reminder of the remarkable talent she was and an introduction to listeners heretofore unfamiliar with the guitarist. Issued in both triple-LP and double-CD formats, Cookin' at the Queens Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 is an indispensable acquisition for Remler devotees. Her love for Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, George Benson, and others is audible throughout these always-swinging sets as she dazzles with playing that's consistently unbounded and inspired.

Like other Resonance packages, this one augments the music with a comprehensive booklet featuring bio details, an in-depth account of the material performed, and affectionate commentaries from musicians who knew and performed with her and have been influenced by her. Texts by Sheryl Bailey, Mike Stern, Russell Malone, Dave Stryker, Bob Moses, Eddie Gomez, David Benoit, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Erskine, and Jocelyn Gould reveal how respected Remler was as a player and loved as a person, how much promise she had, and the tragic loss of her early passing. Through their testimonies, the impression crystallizes of someone warm, friendly, and supportive and a humble musician dedicated to her craft (Milkowski reports, for example, that when “a teacher told her she had bad time, she spent endless hours practicing with a metronome”) and respectful of the tradition she worked within. As she died in a Sydney hotel room on May 4, 1990 at only thirty-two, one can only imagine what great things she would have accomplished had she lived longer.

Derived from a previously unreleased collection of performances broadcast on KNPR Las Vegas as part of Alan Grant's weekly radio program “4 Queens Jazz Night from Las Vegas,” the release presents her in two contexts at the 4 Queens Hotel's French Quarter Room, the one from '84 partnering her with pianist Cocho Arbe, bassist Carson Smith, and drummer Tom Montgomery and the one four years later with Smith again on bass plus John Pisci on drums. It's fascinating to scrutinize the performances to consider the growth in Remler's playing from the one set to the next as well as ponder which showcased her better, the quartet or trio. While Arbe performs splendidly in the first set, the trio one appeals for providing an even greater amount of the guitarist's unfiltered artistry. With no pianist to offer front-line relief, the stage is all Remler's and she doesn't disappoint.

Her debt to Montgomery is evident in her handling of chords and octaves, but, as Moses correctly notes, “she had her own thing” too. Her playing's soulful, swinging, and tight, her facility the result of years of study and practice. That she was a female guitarist was quickly left behind when she started playing, or as Stryker says, “She was just one of the cats, and she just happened to be a woman who played her ass off." Remler was only twenty-seven when the first set was recorded, but she plays like a seasoned pro drawing on many decades of experience. That she died so soon after the recording of the trio set is heartbreaking.

Milkowski's moment-by-moment account enhances the performances in highlighting artistic choices Remler made on the fly, noting how the guitarist drops in occasional nods to forebears or serves up one of her own characteristic moves. Seventeen pieces in total are performed, with Remler eschewing originals for songbook standards and tunes heavily associated with fellow jazz artists, from Art Blakey and Sonny Rollins to Miles Davis and John Coltrane; needless to say, tributes to Montgomery (“West Coast Blues,”“D-Natural Blues”) and Martino (“Cisco”) appear too. The image forms of a gigging musician well-schooled in the repertoire and able to burn through a library of tunes with complete authority.

The '84 set starts on a high with Remler unleashing light-speed licks in an irrepressible blues-bop run-through of Bobby Timmins' “Moanin'.” Here and elsewhere, her chops are formidable, but she never loses sight of musicality. Whether comping or soloing, the essence of the tune never gets lost, and she's always probing and thoughtful in her interpretations. As ensemble partners and soloists, Arbe, Smith, and Montgomery acquit themselves excellently and draw inspiration from the committed playing of the leader. Her softer side emerges in many tracks, beginning with a smooth bossa nova treatment of "How Insensitive.” Remler seduces the listener with single-note tones before riffing on the changes in an intensity-swelling solo that moves from chords to biting phrases.

One of the loveliest things about the trio set is its inclusion of passages featuring Remler unaccompanied. Her two-minute solo intro to “Manha de Carnaval,” for instance, is so enticing, you almost want it to continue for the track's full duration. When Smith and Pisci do enter, however, they do so with the admirable intent of supporting her, reinforcing the music's ebb and flow, and coaxing from her the kind of transcendent performance she delivers. While brief, her unaccompanied turn at the start of “Someday My Prince Will Come” sets a lovely stage too. Memorable also is the moment midway through the torrential “So What / Impressions” when her partners drop out and Remler plays alone to switch at dizzying speed between single-note runs and chords.

November 2024