Emily Remler, guitarist extraordinaire

Guitarist Emily Remler performs the Sonny Rollins standard “Tenor Madness” in 1989.

Her most recent album at the time was 1988’s East to Wes, whose title is a nod to Remler’s chief influence Wes Montgomery. Jazz guitarist Herb Ellis claimed that she was “the new superstar of guitar,” and it isn’t hard to see why.

Tenor Madness is a twelve-minute duet between Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, and the B-flat blues melody has become very well known for Rollins. It is easy to distinguish between the two saxophonists, as Coltrane has a much brighter and more boisterous sound as compared to Rollins’ smoother, “wet-reed” tone. However, as jazz critic Dan Krow said, the two complement each other, and the track does not sound like a competition between the two rising saxophonists.