Writer/musician Matt Collar grew up on a steady diet of Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong as well as pop hits of the '50s and '60s via his deejay father's extensive record collection. It was due to this influence that the young Collar decided upon trumpet as his first instrument -- perhaps under the archaic misconception that girls really dug the horn players in the big bands. From that point on, Collar was headed on a crash course with popular music. Various aborted attempts to shoehorn trumpet into punk and rock bands ensued until he joined the New Orleans jazz-influenced ensemble the Creole Kitchen. Though widely regarded as the true torchbearers of Midwestern second line, the band refused to sell out and, despite a bidding war that pitted one huge record conglomerate against another, never signed, leaving its two self-produced albums sitting in a crate in a basement in Royal Oak, MI, awaiting the next swing revival. Undoubtedly, Collar's influences are too varied to pin down, but suffice it to say he enjoys a wide array of musical artists, from T-Bone Walker to Scott Walker, and feels that Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else" is the clearest statement of antitotalitarian free thought ever put to posterity. He now resides in the metrolands of Detroit and endures a daily commute to the liberal mecca of Ann Arbor for his "new media" career as an editor at All Music Guide. His lounge-lizard alter ego can be found playing trumpet for various and sundry outfits, both on record and in seedy clubs. As always Matt is readily available for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and retirement parties -- please make arrangements through his manager. Musical FAQ First Record Bought: Original Disco Duck First Concert: Maynard Ferguson Favorite Music Movie: Let's Get Lost Favorite Music Book: Miles: The Autobiography Favorite Songwriter: Antonio Carlos Jobim Favorite Producer: Art Rupe Favorite Arranger: Shorty Rogers Favorite Record Label: Specialty Things to Listen to Whilst Thirsty: A Love Supreme -- John Coltrane The Epoch Collection -- Rupert Holmes Nitelife Boogie -- Nick Curran Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Seconds: A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub Specialty Story [Box] Rolled Gold -- The Action The Best of Chet Baker Sings: Let's Get Lost OX4: The Best of Ride The Very Best of Badfinger The Man From Ipanema -- Antonio Carlos Jobim Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings -- Ornette Coleman Boogie Uproar: Texas Blues and R&B 1947-1954 ~ Matt Collar, All Music Guide