After digging out the old contact sheets, I decided to put more than those 2 pics online from the previous post. I still have to break free from the typical newspaper or magazine publishing style of limiting myself to one or two photos, especially if they are from a live show. I have the tools (a film scanner and this blog) but my mind still has some catching up to do.
I am presenting you the photos in chronological order here and I think there is more than one picture that captures the sensuality that I saw and heard.
Oh, and I am even more frustrated than a few days ago when I think about my favourite Emily Remler albums not being available for purchase, not even as mp3 on Amazon or so. She was a great guitar player and deserves to be discovered by a generation who did not get a chance to see her live or buy her albums then. So, what's the bottom line? A few crappy vids on YT and illegal downloads from youknowwhereshare? D'oh!
Click on the photo to see the whole album.
Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts
Photo of the Day 2009-08-10: Emily Remler live 1985
Emily Remlerlive Fabrik Hamburg, 1985-06-11
When I asked my favourite German jazz guitar player Ali Claudi back in 1981 why there are no great women guitar players, he told me to check out Emily Remler. So I did. Which at that time did not mean firing up YouTube or checking torrents but walking to a record store, begging to have an album being imported which you had no chance to pre-listen to and which then was totally overpriced.
I bought all her 80's albums and still listen to two of them, Transitions (1983) and Catwalk (1984). Both albums are great to listen to from start to finish but are sadly out of print (Hello, Concord? Stop being so ignorant and re-issue those albums and shove those stupid compilations). I prefer Catwalk over any other Remler album simply for the fact that it showcases her own compositions. You can easily find out whether you will like her and her music: Here is a very short YT video of her playing "Mocha Spice" (from Catwalk). To me that is everything I like about Remler condensed in two minutes. If you like that, chances are you will like a whole album.
In the summer of 1985, Remler had teamed up with fellow jazz guitar legend Larry Coryell and was touring the European Jazz Festival circuit. As often in this case, they performed at the Hamburg Fabrik. I am not a big fan of too many jazz guitar players, Coryell being no exception, but of course I had to see Emily Remler perform. The audience consisted of the usual suspects, i.e. jazz enthusiasts and amateur fretboard molesters, male, of course. I spent the concert right at the left front of the stage and took some nice pics. Halfway through the performance, I kind of had it with the dudes worshipping that dude on stage and between two songs shouted "Catwalk". Remler heard it and turned to Coryell, beaming like a schoolgirl and whispering "She knows my song!". That was so cute!
After the show, I went backstage and chatted with the duo and took one photo of them. I never printed it but today, while preparing this blog post, decided to add it here as a "bonus photo", just like you would add a bonus track to a digital release of an album. I planned to display it in smaller format to not distract any attention from the live photo. Then I saw the writing on the wall (literally). I really discovered it today, 24 years later and didn't pay any attention to it when I was taking the photo. See for yourself:
Emily Remler and Larry Coryellbackstage Fabrik Hamburg, 1985-06-11
"Drugs will kill you" - Emily Remler died of an accidental heroin overdose while being on tour in Australia five years later. Spooky, eh?
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