Emily Remler was born on September 18, 1957 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and began playing guitar at the age of 10. She was self-taught and talented enough that when she graduated high school early, she was admitted to the Berklee College of Music in Boston at age 16. Remler once said of herself that “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 Montgomery."

Remler finished her four-year program at Berklee in just two years and, after graduating at 18, she moved to New Orleans where she was heard by Herb Ellis, who became her mentor. She moved to New York City where another mentor was Miles Davis’ guitarist John Scofield who introduced her to bassist John Clayton. Clayton invited Remler to California where she made her first recording with the Clayton Brothers in 1981. Clayton’s label, Concord Records, was impressed enough to offer her a contract and she released her first album “Firefly,” that same year. Remler would record five more records for Concord over the next seven years. She also married pianist Monty Alexander in 1981, but the marriage lasted only three years.

After the end of her marriage in 1984, Remler became depressed and eventually turned to drugs. Despite emotional pain she continued to record and tour, producing an album with Larry Coryell in 1985 and a salute to Wes Montgomery in 1988. While on tour in Australia in May of 1990 Emily Remler was found dead in her hotel room in Sydney. The official cause of death was heart failure, but it was most likely brought on by her use of heroin and Dilaudid. Her final album “This Is Me” was released that same year by Justice Records.

Here is a link to Emily Remler performing with Monty Alexander:

"JOY SPRING"