In Edinburgh for the Jazz & Blues Festival, Curtis Stigers talks to The List about sex, lies and ballet recitals

First record you ever bought
‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, by Elton John.

First film you saw that really moved you
I remember being profoundly moved and inspired by Warren Beatty’s film Reds. Such a romantic film, and the politics and history are fascinating.

Last lie you told
That I’d love to do this interview.

First movie you ever went on a date to
When I was 15 I took Kate N, who was 17, to La Cage Aux Folles 2, and we snogged through the whole thing. I’m sure it was a fine film, but I didn’t see much of it. Glorious.

Last time you cried
At my 10-year-old daughter’s ballet recital.

First thing you do when you’ve got time off work
I fix my wife and daughter breakfast and then I get on my bike and head for the mountain trails.

Last great meal you cooked
I threw a dinner party for Alan Macdonald, a very talented painter from Carnoustie, Scotland, who was visiting Boise for an opening, and I grilled lamb chops and asparagus and made my infamous cheese grits soufflé.

Last extravagant purchase you made
My Gary Fisher Superfly mountain bike. Worth every penny.

First crush
First grade, 6 years old, Julie with the ginger hair. I still have a weakness for redheads. I married one.

Last book you read
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon.

First great piece of advice you were given
When I was a teenager, the legendary jazz pianist Gene Harris told me that I was a good saxophonist, but that my singing was perhaps my special talent.

Last time you were star struck
A year or two ago, I met Rat Scabies, the drummer from The Damned. We got on quite well and have become pretty good friends. I’ve been over for dinner at his house with his family and he’s even taken me to his local for a pint. Funny pair, the two of us, riding the London bus: punk rock icon and jazz warbler.

First thing you’d do if you ran the country
I don’t run the country already?

Last meal on earth – what would it be
Mexican food: carnitas, corn tortillas, guacamole and a cold Dos Equis beer.

First song you’ll sing at karaoke
I don’t believe in karaoke or The X-Factor (which of course are the same thing).

Last time you exploited your position to get something
I performed a concert in my hometown to raise money for the much beleaguered and greatly outnumbered Idaho Democratic Party.

First time you realised you were famous
When The Sun newspaper lied about me.

Last time someone criticised your work
It happens less and less these days. The less money I make, the more the critics like me.

First three words your friends would use to describe you
Nervous, over-cautious dad.

Last time you made an impulse buy and regretted it
My incredibly stupid ‘smart phone’.

First concert you ever attended
Oingo Boingo.

Last time you bought someone flowers
Last week, for my wife.

First thing you think of when you wake up in the morning
Sex.

Last thing you think of before you go to sleep
Why am I not having sex?

Curtis Stigers plays The Hub, Edinburgh, Fri 6-Sat 7 Aug, as part of The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival.