NOTE: For my current as well as my past gig listings, please click on the "Calendar" tab which appears in my EPK (Electronic Press Kit) at the sonicbids link just below.
Bill McBirnie is a jazz and Latin flute specialist based in Toronto, Ontario. He has studied with distinguished Canadian flutist and composer, Robert Aitken, as well as Cuban charanga legend, Richard Egues. Bill is known for his superior technique on the entire family of flutesfrom bass flute to piccolo. He is also recognized as an accomplished improviser, notably in the bebop, swing and Latin idioms as demonstrated by his recordings as a sideman with Junior Mance, Irakere, Memo Acevedo and Cache.
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, Spain, Holland and France. Here are some illustrative comments regarding Bills work:
- "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)
- "Great, great playing...I have never heard anyone play like this. Bill, when you read this, I have to take my hat off to you. This is great playing by any standard." (Sir James Galway)
- "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 also 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 the U.S.A. National Flute Associations triennial Jazz Flute Masterclass Competition. 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$):
http://www.indiepool.com/main/showcase/index.asp?id=15737
For CDs (US$):
http://www.cdbaby.com/found?allsearch=mcbirnie&allsearchsubmit=Search
For Additional Samples: http://www.musicianmp3.com/artists/EXTREMEFLUTE/
For Wm. S. Haynes Flutes:
http://www.wmshaynes.com/
Bill McBirnie - Extreme Flute's Friend Space (Top 35)
Yes I knew that was your playing on the original of 'Building Bridges' - LOVE that song and all your playing! Really appreciate your comment. Thanks also for all the background info on the song too, I didn't know that :)
Look forward to checking out more of your great tunes,
My Mentor!!!Sorry for not been intouch for a while although i do visit your space to listen up regularly.Am in London taking lessons on flute and am enjoying every bit of it.Thanks for this lovely and insipring music you put on here. Da-RAY
