PHILADELPHIA — Monnette Sudler, 68, the Philadelphia jazz guitar virtuoso whose career began with the early 1970s avant-garde ensemble Sounds of Liberation and carried on for five decades as a bandleader and backing musician for acts including Grover Washington Jr., David Murray and Archie Shepp, has died.
Sudler died on Sunday at her home in Germantown. Her brother Truman Sudler Jr. said that the cause of death was blood cancer. She had received a lifesaving double-lung transplant in 2013 after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.
Sudler cited Wes Montgomery, Brazilian guitarist Bolo Sete and South Philly’s Pat Martino as influences. Her precise, forceful playing as both a rhythm guitarist and as a soloist was often compared to George Benson.
