R.I.P. Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton (†March 17, 2010)
Onkel Pö, Hamburg, Germany
October 13, 1985

R.I.P. Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt (†December 25, 2009)
Landungsbrücken, Hamburg, Germany
January 24, 1994

Photo of the Day 2009-08-25: Wayne Shorter, Elvis Costello, Gene Simmons

Happy Birthday, Wayne Shorter (76), Gene Simmons (60), Elvis Costello (55)!

Wayne Shorter
Hamburg, Germany
February 26, 1987

Elvis Costello
Hamburg, Germany
February 16, 1989

Gene Simmons (Kiss)
Hamburg, Germany
March 12, 1994

Photo album: Emily Remler live 1985-06-11

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.

Emily Remler live 1985
photos by Moni Kellermann

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.

Photo of the Day 2009-08-10: Emily Remler live 1985

Emily Remler
live 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 Coryell
backstage 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?

R.I.P. Willy DeVille

Willy DeVille (†August 6, 2009) w/his wife/manager Lisa (†2001)
Hamburg, Germany, March 13, 1988

Barack my birthday!

This is what I got myself for my 53rd birthday: A new pair of kicks and this blog.

I have been making plans for a blog for several years but never could decide on anything – Wordpress on my own server or Blogger, a personal blog and/or a photo blog, English or German or both and so on and so on. Last year I felt inspired to create a blog on Hillary Clinton's speeches and interviews which was easy because I had a cause and I didn't have to write anything personal. At least I could get myself to test-drive Blogger.

So, here I am. Finally. I know you have not been waiting ;)

At least I have stopped procrastinating and set this up. I have plenty of interesting ideas but putting them into action can be complicated for me at times. If I have too many choices, I may get mentally stuck. Like starving in a supermarket in front of a shelf with 99 brands of yoghurt because I can't decide which one to pick.

Fuck perfectionism, I don't have time for that anymore. So, I didn't finish whipping this blog template into shape 100% (I spent hours on it yesterday and ran out of time), I linked a dummy "About" page (#webdesignfail!). I didn't write my bio yet (#PRfail!). And anyway - shouldn't I be cleaning the windows right now?

But I promised myself to get this entry written on my birthday - and yes, this year.

The "Song of the Day" is called "One For My Baby", an instrumental version by jazz guitar player Wes Montgomery, which is, as Orrin Keepnews wrote in the record's liner notes "a rich and leisurely exploration [...] that searches and finds all the "quarter to three" A.M. atmosphere that the song's lyrics talk about."

For me that song has always been somewhat of a birthday tune because the whole album was recorded on my 5th birthday - August 4, 1961 in NYC. And if that date looks a little familiar to you now, it's because it is Barack Obama's date of birth. Yes, Wes Montgomery recorded that album the day Barack Obama was born. You wouldn't have known that, right?

I have plenty of photos, stories and knowledge to share – and will be practicing my English along the way.

I promise you will not be bored.

A female singer who does a handstand for me in the middle of the hotel lobby? The Dalai Lama behind the scenes in Hamburg? Zappa backstage? Musicians, movie stars, writers and photographers, empty places, soccer hooligans, cats and dogs (not raining). Oh, and I haven't mentioned Joni M. yet, have I?

I will take a walk in my new shoes today, figuratively and literally, snap a few pics while doing so and share them with you later.

"Happy Birthday, Mr. President", and have a nice day, y'all.

Later,

moni k.