Cookin' at the Queens (Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988) (Remastered) Emily Remler

• 1 Moanin' (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 09:50
• 2 How Insensitive (Insensatez) (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 09:55
• 3 Autumn Leaves (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 08:08
• 4 Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 10:06
• 5 Samba de Orfeu (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 08:56
• 6 Hot House/What Is This Thing Called Love? (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 06:00
• 7 You Don't Know What Love Is (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 11:06
• 8 West Coast Blues (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 12:03
• 9 Tenor Madness (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 04:49
• 10 Out of Nowhere (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, May 28, 1984) 06:14
• 11 Manha de Carnaval (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, September 19, 1988) 08:17
• 12 Cisco (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, September 19, 1988) 13:35
• 13 Yesterdays (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, September 19, 1988) 08:18
• 14 All Blues (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, September 19, 1988) 13:14
• 15 Someday My Prince Will Come (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, September 19, 1988) 09:02
• 16 So What/Impressions (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, September 19, 1988) 11:12
• 17 D-Natural Blues (Live at the 4 Queens, Las Vegas, September 19, 1988) 08:18
• Total Runtime 02:39:03

Info zu Cookin' at the Queens (Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988) (Remastered)

Cookin’ at the Queens: Live in Las Vegas (1984 & 1988) is the first release in 33 years from the unsung jazz guitar great Emily Remler, and it’s a previously unreleased collection of performances that were broadcast on KNPR Las Vegas as part of Alan Grant's "4 Queens Jazz Night from Las Vegas” weekly radio program in 1984 and 1988.

Released in cooperation with the Emily Remler Estate and features quartet performances with pianist Cocho Arbe, bassist Carson Smith and drummer Tom Montgomery (1984), and trio performances with bassist Carson Smith and drummer John Pisci (1988).

Now a name mostly floated in guitar nerd circles, Emily Remler was on her way to becoming a major star of jazz guitar before her untimely death in 1990 at age 32. Fortunately, she recorded and toured prolifically before then, leaving behind much music to be discovered. Produced by self-styled “jazz detective” Zev Feldman and guitar-focused writer Bill Milkowski, Cookin’ at the Queens: Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 presents two Remler sets from two different years at the 4 Queens Casino.

Though a composer as well as a player, she sticks to standards for both shows, mixing the tried-and-true (“Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “Someday My Prince Will Come”) and less well-known (“Samba de Orfeu,” “Out of Nowhere,” her hero Wes Montgomery’s “West Coast Blues”). Regardless of position, though, Remler puts her own stamp on everything, ripping through Bobby Timmons’ “Moanin’” and Sonny Rollins’ “Tenor Madness,” swinging hard through the immortal “Autumn Leaves,” and filtering Pat Martino’s “Cisco” through her own lens to both pay tribute to a key influence and show off her viewpoint. Her imagination really comes through on a pair of medleys: the melding of Tadd Dameron’s “Hot House” with the standard “What is This Thing Called Love?” and Miles Davis’ “So What” with John Coltrane’s “Impressions” show a keen and clever musical mind at work.

Remler’s aided in her quest for fire by a crack band: bassist Carson Smith (who turns in several stunning solos of his own – where is this guy now?), pianist Cocho Arbe (the ‘84 show only, and also a superb soloist), and drummers Tom Montgomery (‘84) and John Pisci (‘88). With these guys at her back, Remler really shines as player, arranger, and bandleader. If you’re looking for a window into the story of an underrated jazz talent, Cookin’ at the Queens is wide open.

Emily Remler, guitar 
Cocho Arbe, piano 
Carson Smith, double bass
  Tom Montgomery, drums

Recorded live at the 4 Queens on May 28, 1984

Emily Remler, guitar
Carson Smith, double bass
  John Pisci, drums

Recorded live at the 4 Queens on September 19, 1988

Digitally remastered

Emily Remler (1957-1990)
was born on September 18, 1957, in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was raised in a suburb of New Jersey. Her first exposure to music was through her brother, who had a Gibson ES-330.In her teenage years, Remler was sent to a boarding school where she immersed herself in rock and folk music. Of her younger self, Remler said, “I was into having parties and being a hippie, a very young hippie”. Her early influences during this period were Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, B.B. King and Johnny Winter.

Upon graduating high school early (at the age of only 16), Remler was accepted into the Berklee College of Music. She was later dismissive of her playing during her school years, noting that one teacher told her that her time was bad. This comment had a profound effect on Remler, and she began obsessively practicing with a metronome. During her time at Berklee she began a relationship with guitarist Steve Masakowski, and together they would move to New Orleans. Remler flourished in the new environment and began to build her reputation as a force on the instrument. She became friends with Herb Ellis, played with Ray Brown, and was promised a future contract with the Concord Jazz Label.Although her schooling had ended, Remler’s obsessive practice habits persisted. In a later interview she described her approach of purposefully limiting her practice to straight-ahead bebop. Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass were her guitarists of choice, and she absorbed their phrasing and time feel through transcriptions. After her relationship with Masakowski had ended, Remler set her sights on New York. There, she became a first-call musician, and worked with Nancy Wilson, Astrud Gilberto. She also began her contract with Concord, and throughout 1981-1988 she released 6 records.

However, a string of drug use and a failed marriage threatened to derail her success during this time. After her marriage she admitted, “I tried to destroy myself as fast as I could”.

Her drug problem intensified, and magnified her anxiety about working in a male-dominated field. One musician recalls her being so nervous about recording a solo that she overdubbed it after the fact, without the rest of the band present.

In 1986, Remler gave up the New York life and moved to Pittsburgh where she became and artist-in-residence at the university. She also studied with renowned trombonist and arranger Bob Brookmeyer during this time.

Friends of Remler were optimistic about her rehabilitation and return to form. However, their greatest fears were realized on May 04 1990, when she died of a heart attack at the age of 32 in Sydney, Australia. Her final recording, This Is Me, was released posthumously later that year.

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