Emily Remler was born in New York City on September 18, 1957, and began playing folk guitar at the age of ten. After a brief interest in rock music, she became seriously interested in jazz. At the age of sixteen she encouraged her father and her mother to let her go to the Berklee School of Music in Boston to study jazz guitar. It was there that she ended up being influenced by the jazz guitar styles of Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino. She graduated in 1975 with a diploma in jazz guitar music.

In 1976, Emily Remler moved to New Orleans and began her career as a guitarist. She originally made a living teaching classes as well as playing in a rhythm and blues band called Little Queenie and The Percolators. She also sometimes played in a jazz group that included trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and singer Bobby McFerrin. The next two years saw Emily in the rhythm section of the band at The Fairmont Roosevelt Hotel directed by Dick Stabile. In this position, she had the opportunity to back many top vocalists, including Nancy Wilson and Rosemary Clooney.

Emily Remler’s first major break came through jazz guitar legend Herb Ellis, who heard her play in New Orleans in 1978. He arranged for her to appear with his quartet at the 1978 Concord Jazz Festival in California. . In 1979, Emily moved to New York City, where she joined singer Astrud Gilberto’s backing group. Success followed success and in 1980 Remler made her first recording as leader of the Concord record label. She then appeared in some of the world’s leading jazz celebrations, such as the Kool Festival in 1980 and the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1981.

Emily married jazz pianist Monty Alexander in 1981. Their marriage lasted about 3 years. After they broke up in 1984, she became romantically involved with jazz fusion guitarist Larry Coryell and they recorded a duet album called Together. Her last recording project, which was an association with David Benoit, found her playing pop jazz and sounding a bit more individualistic than she did on her typical be bop sessions.

At this time in her life, Emily Remler returned to Los Angeles and worked for a time in a theater orchestra. She continued to make and record appearances in jazz clubs gaining increasing worldwide recognition as one of the best young jazz guitarists of the day. While on a 1990 tour of Australia, Emily, who had actually ended up addicted to heroin, tragically collapsed and died in her hotel room on May 4. She was only 32 years old.

During her short life, Emily Remler ended up being an inspiration and role model for younger musicians. Her early passing has led her to be considered a legend, however, in reality, she was still searching for her own unique sound when she died. Unfortunately for the be bop jazz guitar community, the great potential of it was never really realized.