Blues for Herb

🎵 Genre: Jazz | 🎤 Recording: Live

Emily Remler’s Modern Blues-Jazz Masterclass

The live performance of “Blues for Herb” captures Emily Remler and her quartet delivering a confident, extended exhibition in contemporary blues-jazz improvisation. As an original composition written for her guitar hero, Herb Ellis, the track has a warm, familiar feel built on a classic 12-bar blues foundation. The track is instantly elevated by Remler’s sophisticated harmonic ideas and effortlessly swinging rhythm.

The live setting allows every musician a generous amount of space to stretch out and explore the simple, inviting theme. The defining element is Remler’s demonstration of how to speak the language of the blues with a modern jazz vocabulary. Her soloing is deeply rooted in the traditions of players like Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass, yet delivered with a clean, articulate precision all her own.

This methodical approach is on full display here, as she uses dynamic changes, moving from quiet, thoughtful phrases to driving, single-note runs, all while maintaining a perfect rhythmic pocket. Her dedication to tradition is also what grounds her more virtuosic bebop explorations, such as “Hot House,” which demands speed and rhythmic command.

The comfortable, soulful delivery of this blues piece stands in clear contrast to the more relaxed, lyrical bossa nova of her debut work, “Look to the Sky.” This extended jam is a perfect exhibition of Remler’s self-assured style—a complete artistic statement that merges high technicality with soulful, intuitive expression. It remains a key live recording for studying her mastery of spontaneous jazz composition.

Recording Details

💬 What Do You Hear? This performance perfectly blends tradition and modernity. Which Remler signature—her rhythmic pocket or her melodic clarity—comes through strongest in this live tribute? Drop your thoughts below and join the conversation.