Matt Richards and Tony Hughes met in the traditional, time-honored jazz musicians' manner:  at a jam session. Several days later Matt was contacted to perform at Philly's then-new jazz lounge, the Paris Wine Bar. An intimate venue, the jazz-loving owner was featuring duos – of course, a guitar duo would fit the bill perfectly. "While I had performed in guitar duos with Larry Coryell and Emiliano Pardo, we didn't focus primarily on standard jazz. In this duo Tony and I would be playing straight-ahead jazz."

The pairing proved to be very successful - Matt and Tony performed at the wine bar when it first opened in 2012 and continued monthly until its closing eight years later. Venues such as Kreutz Creek Winery Room and the High Note Cafe began featuring the duo. Currently, the Vault Brewpub and Pullman Restaurant are regular spots for Guitar Jazz.

Matt has recently expanded the roster of musicians featured in the duo to include guitarist James Schwartz and bassist Bert Harris, two artists with whom Matt has worked extensively. “James and Bert are both first-rate musicians who bring their own individuality to the mix,” Matt explains.