*** EMILY REMLER “This Is Me” <i> Justice</i>

Admirers of the guitarist will be surprised and perhaps confused by “This Is Me,” completed shortly before her death. Both the music and the claims made for it are debatable: she was “encumbered” by her reputation as a straight-ahead player? That was no encumberance, it was an honor. As for her alleged “undiscovered songwriting ability,” one of her earlier albums consisted entirely of originals; others were scattered through her various Concord LPs.

In this fusion-Latin-pop-Brazilian collection, one wonders how much of its character was shaped by her arrangers or co-writers (David Benoit, Russ Freeman et al) and whether she really felt this was her finest hour. For what it tries to be, it is well crafted, with the best tracks mostly toward the end: “Carenia,” a samba in which she stretches out, and “Second Childhood,” which is almost unaccompanied. A far cry from the Remler her fans knew, this must be judged by other values.