Classy Brass Duets

Classy Brass Duets began when Matthew and his roommate Phillip Mayer, quarantined together during the COVID-19 pandemic, started a weekly livestream from their kitchen. After Phillip moved to California, Matthew enlisted the help of friend and saxophonist (and new neighbor) Anya Combs to continue the tradition.

Tune in every Sunday at 6pm, as long as this lockdown drags on, and follow them on Facebook.

Interested in playing any of these Classy Brass Duets original arrangements with your classy friends? Download them here.

 

Classy Brass Duets Fireworks Spectacular

Gershwin - Summertime
Ward - America The Beautiful
Tchaikovsky - Theme from the 1812 Overture

Classy Brass Duets - O Canada!

Rush - Tom Sawyer
Warren - Because You Loved Me
Nickelback - How You Remind Me
Morissette - Ironic
Hockey Suite:
- Hockey Night in Canada Theme
- Connors - The Hockey Song

Classy Brass Duets - Fathers Day

Cole - Unforgettable
Vandross - Dance With My Father
Washington - Just The Two Of Us

Classy Brass Duets - Long Weekend

Lennon–McCartney - Eight Days a Week
Black - Friday
Elton John - Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting
Maroon 5 - Sunday Morning
Christopher - Manic Monday
The Weeknd - Can’t Feel My Face

Classy Brass Duets - Tax Day

Pink Floyd - Money
Harrison - Taxman
Miller - Take the Money and Run
Knopfler & Sting - Money for Nothing
Summer - She Works Hard for the Money

Classy Brass Duets - Out for a Drive

Rogers, Sturken, Gilbert, Hook, Morris - Shut Up and Drive
Rodrigo - Driver’s License
Ocean - Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car
Incubus - Drive
Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy

Classy Brass Duets - Mothers Day (featuring Jacqueline Cain)

Henley/Hornsby - The End of the Innocence
Taylor - That Lonesome Road
Garner - Misty

Classy Brass Duets - Horses

Lerner & Loewe - Ascot Gavotte (from My Fair Lady)
Lil Nas X - Old Town Road
Jagger/Richards - Wild Horses
Ginuwine - Pony

Classy Brass Duets - LIVE at Halyards

Check out the first set of the first ever in-person Classy Brass Duets show.

Classy Brass Duets - Vaccines

Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name
Cooley & Davenport - Fever
Miranda - My Shot
The Fray - How To Save a Life
Bono - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
Schwartz - Hit Me With Your Best Shot

 

Classy Brass Duets - She Works Hard for the Money

In partnership with the Working Families Party, we put together this video calling on Congress to create 15 million good jobs by passing the THRIVE Agenda. Join us to demand a bold recovery. Text RECESS to 30403 to get involved.

Classy Brass Duets - Games

Ander & Nowels - Game of Love (as performed by Santana ft. Michelle Branch)
Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game
Isaak - Wicked Game
Martin & Crichlow - Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)

Classy Brass Duets - Anniversary Show: Paper

Featuring a special welcome message from Phillip Mayer.

Harold Arlen - It’s Only A Paper Moon
Eddie Money - Two Tickets to Paradise
Lennon & McCartney - Paperback Writer
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
MIA - Paper Planes

Classy Brass Duets - Cats

Bacharach & David - What’s New Pussycat?
Rossini - Duetto Buffo di Due Gatti
Cat Stevens - Wild World
Doja Cat - Say So

Classy Brass Duets - Pie

McLean - American Pie
Irby - Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Holland-Dozier-Holland - I Can’t Help Myself

Classy Brass Duets - The Muppets

Henson & Pottle - The Muppet Show Theme
McKenzie - Man or Muppet
Ascher & Williams - Movin’ Right Along
Ascher & Williams - Rainbow Connection
Umiliani - Mah Na Mah Na

Classy Brass Duets - #FreeBritney

Britney Spears - Oops I Did It Again
Britney Spears - If You Seek Amy
Britney Spears - Sometimes
Britney Spears - Toxic
Britney Spears - Stronger

Classy Brass Duets - Mars

Holst - Mars
Ariana Grande - NASA
David Bowie - Life on Mars
Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven

Classy Brass Duets - Sousa Marches!

Sousa - The Washington Post March
Sousa - The Fairest of the Fair
Sousa - The Thunderer
Sousa - The Stars and Stripes Forever March

Classy Brass Duets - Superb Owls

Owl City (ft. Carly Rae Jepsen) - Good Times
Elgar - Owls: An Epitaph
DeKoven - The Owl & The Pussycat
Owl City - Fireflies

Classy Brass Duets - PBS

Raposo - Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?
Fred Rogers - Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Arnold & Price - The Game Is On (from Sherlock)
Horelick, Kleinman, and Weir - Reading Rainbow
Jean-Joseph Mouret - Rondeau (theme from Masterpiece Theatre)
Rockapella - Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?

Classy Brass Duets - Inauguration Special

Sanderson - Hail to the Chief
Sherman & Sherman - Sister Suffragette
Guthrie, Estefan, Ward arr. Cain - JLo Inauguration MegaMix
Katy Perry - Firework

Classy Brass Duets - Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton - Jolene
Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors
Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You
Dolly Parton - 9 to 5
Stevie Wonder - Happy Birthday

Classy Brass Duets - Protest

Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On?
Lennon/McCartney - Revolution
The Kunts - Boris Johnson
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In the Name
Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is

Classy Brass Duets - New Beginnings

Semisonic - Closing Time
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
Arlen & Harburg - Over the Rainbow
Dua Lipa - New Rules
Lopez & Anderson-Lopez arr. Cain - Let It Go Into The Unknown

Classy Brass Duets - Hits of 2020

Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar
Gaga & Grande - Rain On Me
Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
Cardi B & Megan thee Stallion - WAP
The Weeknd - Blinding Lights

Classy Brass Duets - Xmas

Wham! - Last Christmas
Hague & Geisel - You’re a Mean One Mr Grinch
Martin & Blane - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Marks - Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Classy Brass Duets - Winter

Katy Perry - Hot n Cold
Paul Simon - Hazy Shade of Winter
Bareilles and Michaelson - Winter Song
Hank Williams - Cold, Cold Heart
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song

Classy Brass Duets - Breaking Up With 2020

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
Taylor Swift - We Are Never Getting Back Together
Bon Iver - Skinny Love
George Michael - Freedom ‘90

Classy Brass Duets - Food

Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me
Jaco Pastorius/Pee Wee Ellis - Soul Intro/The Chicken
Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
Jackson/Yankovic - Eat It

Classy Brass Duets - Thanksgiving (featuring Thomas Ellison)

Alanis Morisette - Thank U
Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World

Classy Brass Duets - Travel

Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
The Proclaimers - 500 Miles
Roger Miller - King of the Road
The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Sam Smith - Stay With Me

Classy Brass Duets - TV Themes

Law & Order: SVU
NBC Primetime Comedy Suite:
- Parks & Recreation
- The Office
- 30 Rock
Game of Thrones

Classy Brass Duets - Election Day

Kool & the Gang - Celebration
U2 - Beautiful Day
Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA
Ray Charles - Hit the Road, Jack
Arianna Grande - thank u, next

Classy Brass Duets - Halloween

Tegan & Sara - Walking With a Ghost
Vic Mizzy - The Addams Family
Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
Bobby “Boris” Pickett - Monster Mash
Elfman arr. Cain - This is Halloween

Classy Brass Duets - Video Game Music

Hirokazu Tanaka - Korobeiniki (Tetris Theme)
Nook Inc - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Christopher Tin - Baba Yetu (Theme from Civilization IV)
Koji Kondo - Super Mario Bros. Theme

Classy Brass Duets: Van Halen

Van Halen - Runnin’ With the Devil
Van Halen - Dreams
Van Halen - Jump

Classy Brass Duets: Middle School Dance

Weezer - Buddy Holly
Joan Osborne - One of Us
Faith Hill - This Kiss
Jewel - You Were Meant for Me
Aerosmith - I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing

Classy Brass Duets: Yacht Rock

Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Alanah Myles - Black Velvet
Toto - Rosanna
Hall & Oates - Rich Girl
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Christopher Cross - Sailing

Classy Brass Duets: Girl Pop (featuring Alex Jung)

Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Sia - Cheap Thrills
Madonna - Into the Groove

Classy Brass Duets: Fruit

Prince - Raspberry Beret
The Presidents of the United States of America - Peaches
The Cranberries - Linger
Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man

Classy Brass Duets: Back to School

Peter Lurye - Ride on the Magic School Bus
The Police - Don’t Stand So Close To Me
Bob Dorough - Conjunction Junction (from Schoolhouse Rock!)
Pink Flyod - Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)

Classy Brass Duets: The Ocean

DNCE - Cake By The Ocean
Otis Redding - (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay
The Beatles - Octopus’s Garden
Alan Menken - Under the Sea (from Disney’s The Little Mermaid)

Classy Brass Duets: Fire

Vangelis - Chariots of Fire
Adele - Set Fire to the Rain
Sean Kingston - Fire Burning

Classy Brass Duets: MLS Hudson River Derby (featuring Tom McHugh)

White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Kander & Ebb - Theme from New York, New York

Classy Brass Duets: Rain

Nacio Herb Brown - Singin’ in the Rain
James Taylor - Fire and Rain
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
The Weather Girls - It’s Raining Men

Classy Brass Duets: Cars

The Beatles - Drive My Car
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
War - Low Rider

Classy Brass Duets: Emo Edition

Dashboard Confessional - Hands Down
Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into The Dark
New Found Glory - My Friends Over You
Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Classy Brass Duets: The Elephant in the Room

Sherman Brothers - Colonel Hathi’s March (from Disney’s The Jungle Book)
Saint-Saëns - L'Éléphant (from Carnival of the Animals)
Mancini - Baby Elephant Walk
Cage The Elephant - Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked

Classy Brass Duets: Greatest Hits

Williams - Raiders March (May 3, 2020)
Lorde - Liability (April 26, 2020)
Greig - In the Hall of the Mountain King (March 22, 2020)
Sesame Street - Rubber Duckie (April 19, 2020)
St. Vincent - New York (May 24, 2020)

Classy Brass Duets: The Last Word

Madness - Our House
Randy Newman - You’ve Got A Friend In Me
Medley & Warnes - (I've Had) The Time of My Life
St. Vincent - New York

Classy Brass Duets: Late

Carole King - It’s Too Late
OneRepublic - Apologize
Toto - Hold The Line

Classy Brass Duets: Happy Mother’s Day!

ABBA - Mamma Mia!
Supremes - You Can’t Hurry Love
CHVRCHES - The Mother We Share
Fountains of Wayne - Stacy’s Mom

Classy Brass Duets: John Williams

Raiders March
Jaws Theme
Star Wars Medley arr. Cain

Classy Brass Duets: Lorde Edition

Lorde - Ribs
Lorde - Liability
Lorde - Royals

Classy Brass Duets: Duck Edition

Disney - DuckTales - arr. Tom McHugh
Vulfpeck - Funky Duck
Ernie - Rubber Duckie

Classy Brass Duets: Easter Edition

JS Bach - Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Vulpius - Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing
Williams - Christ is Alive!
Gaga - Judas

Classy Brass Duets #3

Handel - Honor and Arms
Trad. - Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
Gaga - Bad Romance

Classy Brass Duets: CRJ Edition

Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
Jepsen - I Really Like You
Jepsen - Cut to the Feeling

Classy Brass Duets #1

Mouret - Rondeau
Bach - Bist Du Bei Mir
Greig - In the Hall of the Mountain King
Sousa - Liberty Bell March

 

Video Editing Projects

Prince - Kiss

 
 

A quick Prince tribute in honor of his birthday. I ran the trombone through an octave pedal to get the melody sound, and the piece also features baritone harmonies, tuba bass, and a cardboard box drum (patent pending). Enjoy!

The Mandalorian

 
 

The Mandalorian Theme, performed on a bunch of instruments I had lying around my apartment. I bought a green screen for this silly thing.

Avengers Theme

 
 

I’ve been watching a lot of superhero movies during quarantine. Figured I’d put together something fun.

Hail to the Chief

 
 

A quick little celebration in honor of the Inauguration of our 46th President.

God Rest Ye Classy Gentlemen

 
 

Arrangement by Alec Wilder from the Carols for a Merry TubaChristmas book.

AntiMatterHorns - Sleigh Ride

Back when we could all be in the same room together, we recorded a jazzy version of one of our favorite holiday tunes: Sleigh Ride! Filmed live at Battalion Studios on November 25, 2018. Arrangement and video editing by Matthew Cain

Funkrust Brass Band - “Zoology” Live with the Gowanus Dredgers

On September 12, 2020, Funkrust Brass Band played our first live gig in over six months -- a socially distant concert in collaboration with the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club. We performed from canoes on the Gowanus Canal. Here's our song Zoology, recorded live that day. This video premiered as part of HONK! United 2020, and was edited by Matthew Cain.

Holy Cross Crusader Alumni “Stay At Home” Marching Band - Mamie Reilly

With all the disruptions to this academic year, the College of the Holy Cross Class of 2020 won't have the Commencement ceremony they expected. So, to send them off, more than 35 Holy Cross Goodtime Marching Band alumni got together to perform a favorite school song, Mamie Reilly. Video editing and sound mixing by Matthew Cain (HC ‘09).

AntiMatterhorns - I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Quarantine and canceled shows have us feeling cooped up, and we just want to get out and dance! (When it's safe and socially responsible to do so, of course.) In the meantime, we got together virtually to play one of our favorite songs. Video editing and sound mixing by Matthew Cain.


Neighborhood Parades

Occasionally throughout the quarantine, Matthew, his roommate Phillip Mayer, and other Park Slope musicians (staying 6’ apart) have joined together for a series of Park Slope neighborhood parades. These are designed to bring joy to the community and celebrate the essential workers keeping our city safe.

Park Slope musicians take to the streets to bring joy to the community and celebrate the essential workers keeping our city safe.

Recorded April 7, 2020

Elizabeth Arce - Trombone
Phillip Mayer - Trombone
Matthew Cain - Dragon Sousaphone

From the Instagram story of @wscottcancel


With Other Groups

Metropolitan Music Community - Brooklyn Air by Michael Markowski

The Metropolitan Music Community, the nonprofit umbrella that supports three community bands in Brooklyn, partnered with composer (and video editor) Michael Markowski to produce a virtual band performance of his song, Brooklyn Air.

Funkrust Brass Band Quarantine Video: Vermilion

Imagine leaving your secure bunker after years of hiding, while a mysterious unseen apocalypse has slowly unfurled outside. What you find is not what you expected.

This song was written in quarantine — no band members rehearsed or performed it in person before recording their parts.

 
 

Holy Cross Bands - Virtual Wind Ensemble - Chu Chu Rah Rah!

Matthew made an alumni cameo with his college marching band to play the school’s fight song. This video premiered as part of the Holy Cross Music Department’s Virtual Concert on May 4, 2020.

Funkrust Brass Band - Ignition

In the midst of the stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unable to gather for rehearsals (much less play sweaty, packed shows), we decided to see what would happen if we recorded a song together, separately from our apartments. This is the result, our newest song, Ignition, cobbled together from phones, laptops, tablets and a few cheap mics.