I am a freelance jazz/Latin flute specialist...so my musical circumstances are constantly changing...
I would also like to mention that THE PERFORMERS on the songs posted here are as follows:
-"Baila Cinderella" (from the album, Mercy); Written by and dedicated to Hubert Laws; Robi Botos on piano, Pat Collins on bass and John Sumner on drums (I'm playing C flute.)
-"Hackensack" (from the album, Paco Paco); Bernie Senensky on piano (I'm playing C flute.)
-"What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and "Blue Lester" (from the album, Nature Boy); Mark Eisenman on piano, Steve Wallace on bass and John Sumner on drums (I'm playing C flute.)
-"Find Your Place" and "Canto de Escravo" (from the album, Scratch It!); me ONLY (I'm playing C flute on the first one and bass flute on the second one.)
-"Away From Home" (from the album, Desvio); Bruce Jones on guitar (I'm playing alto flute.)
John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk...Clifford Brown, Red Garland and Art Pepper...Lester Young, Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins...Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Etta James...J.S. Bach ...
.........and, oh, of course,......Hubert Laws and Sir James Galway!.........
Sounds Like
(...maybe just a BIT like Hubert Laws...and,...well,...I guess NO one has a sound like Sir James!... :-)
Bill McBirnie is a jazz and Latin flute specialist based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has studied with renowned American flutist, Samuel Baron, distinguished Canadian flutist and composer, Robert Aitken, as well as Cuban charanga legend, Richard Egues. Bill is well known for his superior technique but he is also recognized as an exceptional improviser (notably in the bebop, swing and Latin idioms) as demonstrated by his recordings as a sideman with Junior Mance, Irakere, Memo Acevedo, Emile-Claire Barlow and Cache. He has performed extensively with Toronto's finest musicians including Bernie Senensky's Moe Koffman Tribute Band. Here are just a few illustrative comments in relation to Bill's work:
- "Dear Maestro McBirnie, [This] just blew me away. Great, great playing...Innovative...I have never heard anyone play like this...Great technique and music making. The scales are so even it sounds like he wrote the Taffanel scale book...I would recommend that you all pick up a copy...Bill, when you read this, I have to take my hat off to you. This is great playing by any standard."
(SIR JAMES GALWAY, Galway-Flute-Chat)
- "A distinguished flutist with a devotion that shows up in the airy sweetness of his sound at ballad tempos and in the remarkable control he can bring to rapid-fire, skittering runs on up tempo, Coltrane-inspired material."
(STUART BROOMER, Editor, Coda magazine)
- "McBirnie has always handled bop exceptionally well. You can hear his years at the conservatory in his sound, a pure, transparent tone at rest, brightening with exertion, yet he swings like someone who grew up with a large collection of Blue Note and Prestige LPs down in the basement. He's entirely idiomatic, but also effortlessly inventive."
(MARK MILLER, The Globe and Mail)
Bill has produced two Extreme Flute projects and, more recently, two straight-ahead acoustic jazz recordings under his own name entitled "Nature Boy" (featuring The Mark Eisenman Trio) and "Paco Paco" (featuring pianist, Bernie Senensky). Both of these albums have attained Top 40 spots in Jazz.FM91's and Bob Parlocha's syndicated jazz programs as well as steady air-play in their spin cycles. Both albums have also garnered consistently excellent reviews internationally, in Canada, the USA, Britain, Australia, France, Holland and Spain.
In addition, Bill has been chosen Flutist of the Year by the Jazz Report Awards, nominated as Miscellaneous Instrumentalist of the Year at the National Jazz Awards as well as being declared a winner of both the U.S.A. National Flute Association’s Jazz Flute Masterclass and Jazz Flute Big Band Competitions. He has also been a longstanding contributor to the Woodwinds column of the Canadian Musician magazine and is currently the resident Jazz Flute Specialist at Sir James Galway's web site.
OTHER RELEVANT LINKS:
For Sir James Galway's Web Site:
http://www.thegalwaynetwork.com/jazz/jazz.htm
For CDs (Cdn$):
http://www.indiepool.com/main/showcase/index.asp?id=15737
For CDs/MP3s (US$):
http://www.cdbaby.com/all/extremeflute
For Wm. S. Haynes Flutes:
http://www.wmshaynes.com/
For Robert Bigio Crowns & Stoppers:
http://www.bigio.com/stoppersandcrowns.html
good to hear from you. i do send out stuff on email about upcoming gigs. if you send me your email address i'll be glad to keep you posted. i used to play at that piano room in toronto but don't know anyplace to play there now. my email is dfpiano35@aol.com
Right on - thanks for the compliment! I'm getting some terrific feedback on your playing on "Summer In The Round"! We're _definitely_ going to make some more music!
Hey, Bill. Thanks for the comment,and the good wishes.. I am very well indeed. Hope you are the same.. Sometimes some things need to be said... Here goes... ! Bill, you are, and always have been one of the Best Musicians , Artists and Human Beings I know. You are a true gentleman and I love having you in the world, man..Keep swinging... Michaeld.
Thanks so much Bill, and if I ever do I promise to be right back to ask for your expert help! What a neat discovery you've been. Thanks for dropping in, keep in touch. Anna.
My composition, "Cresent Wrench" (from the album, Scratch It!) has been nominated in the Latin Jazz Song category.
