This work was commissioned by a good friend, Nancy Lowry, and is intended as accompaniment tracks to Holiday singalongs. Each song provides the melody and at least one key change. Perfect background music for the Holiday season to come!
Murder Hornet vs. Great White Shark (based on ‘Bumblebee Boogie’)
This is a piece I recorded at home based on the Rimsky-Korsakov piece and reimagined as a surf-guitar piece (with accordion/drums). Every track was recorded in one take at home. My daughter Mirabelle provided the incredible graphics/animation. See what happens when these two ‘sworn enemies’ battle it out!
Andrew Neil album ‘Freak’ (I composed/arranged/performed all guitar parts)
Artist Andrew Neil writes some amazingly expressive songs. I was honored to compose and perform guitar parts for his album ‘Freak’. Please check it out!
Charlistan (original composition by Matty Metcalfe)
This piece is both a homage to my adopted hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, and the music of Eastern Europe which I am quite fond of (and from where I was when I composed this piece). I play all the instruments including ukulele, accordion, bass, drums, synth trumpet!
Last Tango in Budapest (Boris Kovac)–performed by Matty Metcalfe and the FearShe Quartet
I recorded this beautiful, off-kilter piece with Brian Caputo-drums, Diego Lane-bass, Kassia Arbabi-fiddle. There’s something magical and mystical about it that I hope you experience as well!
Suspicious Blues (From live SOLO piano performance @Fellini’s-Charlottesville)
I performed a solo show based on New Orleans stride piano & Jeff Romano recorded and engineered it. Full playlist to follow.
Matty Metcalfe SOLO PIANO (11 tracks) @Fellini’s
These 11 tracks were recorded at Fellini’s in Charottesville, Va by Jeff Romano. Done in one take on a magical Valentine’s Day…nothing like stride piano to set the mood!
Musette Moderna/Tango a’Tiempo
This album represents my attempt to bring some of my favorite tangos and musettes—popular song forms in the 1920’s and 30’s—into the present day by coloring them with modern arrangements and instrumentation. Many of the pieces I chose existed only on scratchy recordings from that era of the Victrola—my drummer and bassist gave them a strong, danceable beat. Two medleys are from well-known icons of the 1980’s, stylistically meshed to fit the overall mood. The album shows that great art never goes away, especially if it has a mad scientist to help revive it!
1. Flambé Montalbanaise—Viseur
2. The Last Waltz in Budapest—Kovac
3. Lauper Ear Off—Lauper/Hyman/Shear/Hazard
4. Sorciere—Dukas
5. Serenade (from Schwanengesang)—Schubert
6. Amelon Waltz—O’Connor
7. Gitanerias—Lacuona
8. Adios Nonino—Piazzolla
9. Retour de Hirondelles—Pagano
10. Bal de la Marine—Venturi
11. Por Una Cabesa—Gardel/La Pera
12. Swing Valse—Viseur
13. Valse in B Minor—Chopin
14. Tango a la Madge—Leonard/Steinberg/Kelly/Brown/Rans
15. Jeanette—Viseur
16. Un Pugno di Dollari—Morricone
17. Musette a’ Teresa—Daniels/Magraw
18. Solace—Joplin
19. Brise Napolitaine
Stridin’ Down Bourbon
Stridin’ Down Bourbon: A Tribute to James Booker
James Carroll Booker III was a huge influence on my piano playing—his ability to mix Classical, Jazz, Blues, and other approaches set him apart amongst New Orleans pianists. He was plagued by his share of demons and his output suffered as a result, but when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Bayou in August 2005, I knew this was my chance to give back. So I donated all proceeds from the sale of this album to the New Orleans Free Clinic.
Fleet of Fingers
This is a collection of instrumental tunes I mostly composed during a trip to Europe. I would wander around Berlin or Munich, stop at a stressed cafe, and just start writing on notation paper the sonic images I imagined from the goings-on of the strange yet familiar world around me. Charlistan is a mix of sounds from my adopted home town of Charlottesville, Virginia, mixed with an off-kilter 5/8 time signature from Eastern Europe. Soweter is my attempt to summon the joy and ‘clap-ability’ of South African street music. And Black Angels of the Sky is my attempt to write a spaghetti western style fiddle tune…on electric guitar. The motto of the album, as on my journeys, is ‘You never know what’s coming around the corner.’
1. Charlistan
2. Ode to Bruce
3. Vesperings
4. Mad Roumanian
5. April Is…
6. Soweter
7. Flutterby
8. This is to Father You
9. Skatah
10. Musengs
11. Black Angels of the Sky
12. Between Whitney and the Pale Moonlight
13. War: The New Peace