Remembering Pioneer Guitarist Emily Remler
Born in 1957 Englewood Cliffs, guitarist Emily Remler gravitated towards Louisiana then Hollywood, stunning audiences and record-buyers alike with her incredible jazz licks like the second coming of Wes Montgomery [1923-1968], developing his thumb technique and his octaves. She became samba singer Astrud Gilberto’s touring guitarist for two years after playing in the pit for the Los Angeles production of Sophisticated Ladies. She was downbeat magazine’s “Guitarist Of The Year” in 1985. She once said, “I may look like a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey, but inside I’m a 50-year old heavy-set Black man with a big thumb like Wes.”
She was 32 when she died on tour in Australia after a lifetime of abusing opioids. She would have been 70 next year when Firefly: The Emily Remler Story, a new documentary, tries to unravel the reasons. Produced with the cooperation of the Emily Remler Estate and in partnership with Berklee College of Music and Musicians Institute, never-before-seen Remler footage is juxtaposed with interviews from the artist herself, members of her family, musicians and critics. A 74-minute rough cut has been completed by writer, director and producer Al Naffah of Aletheian Pictures Ltd in London. A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to finance the film’s final editing, music and archival licensing.
For more information, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fireflyemilyremler/help-us-finish-firefly-the-emily-remler-story.