“When I’m playing, I don’t know whether I’m a girl, boy, dog, cat or whatever,” the guitarist Emily Remler said in late 1983, during an interview for Canadian radio. “I’m just playing the music. When I leave the stage, that’s when people remind me that I’m a woman.”
But just a year and a half later, Remler, then 27, saw things differently. Jazz author Julie Coryell asked her in May of 1985 if she’d had to work harder for acceptance as a woman. “I still do,” she replied. “I didn’t conquer it. Are you kidding? Now they know that I can play. But I still have to prove myself every single time.”
Prove herself she did. By the time she talked to Coryell, Remler had already recorded four albums as a leader for the Concord Jazz label, including one consisting solely of original compositions. And she had wowed legendary guitarists like Jim Hall and Herb Ellis—the latter telling People magazine in 1982, “I’ve been asked many times who I think is coming up on guitar to carry on the tradition, and my unqualified choice is Emily.”
As Kankakee and other areas affected by Tuesday’s tornadoes and storms recover, the Springfield area pauses to remember the two EF2s here in the area on the south and east sides of the city (plus Jeorme, Loami, etc.) 20 years ago today. Hard to believe it is that long ago already.
- Leatherneck - Thursday, Mar 12, 26 @ 8:07 am:
As Kankakee and other areas affected by Tuesday’s tornadoes and storms recover, the Springfield area pauses to remember the two EF2s here in the area on the south and east sides of the city (plus Jeorme, Loami, etc.) 20 years ago today. Hard to believe it is that long ago already.