Bill McBirnie is a Canadian jazz and Latin flutist of exceptional calibre who is garnering excellent critiques - as well as airplay - internationally.
Bill is also a teacher, clinician and woodwind columnist with Canadian Musician magazine and is currently serving as the Resident Jazz Flute Specialist at Sir James Galway's Official Web Site.
Please note that Bill is now available for online lessons. Simply go to his Online Lessons page for more information. Here you will also find a Discography with quick links to Sample Tracks from all of Bill's albums as well as direct links to the distributors (IndiePool, CDBaby and iTunes) from whom you can purchase any of his recordings.
Finally, just click on Bill's Shows & Events for current information regarding his forthcoming appearances.
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BILL PERFORMING WITH AL JARREAU AT JAZZ LIVES
Photo by Daniel Stone
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BILL MCBIRNIE NOMINATED FOR AN IMA IN THE USA
Bill's recent release, Mercy, has been nominated in the USA for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards (IMAs) in the best Jazz Album category.
Based in the USA, the IMAs are international in scope with submissions from 70 countries across six continents. Bill is the sole Canadian amongst the remaining American nominees in the Jazz Album category.
Based in the USA, the IMAs are international in scope with submissions from 70 countries across six continents. Bill is the sole Canadian amongst the remaining American nominees in the Jazz Album category.
Both the IMA nominees and winners are determined on the basis of artistic merit and this year's judges in the Jazz category include McCoy Tyner, Arturo Sandoval and Lee Ritenour.
The IMA also provides a Vox Populi jukebox where you can listen to all of the nominees and vote for your favourite. You can read an interview with Bill and listen to a complete sample track from Mercy here.
The IMA also provides a Vox Populi jukebox where you can listen to all of the nominees and vote for your favourite. You can read an interview with Bill and listen to a complete sample track from Mercy here.
With respect to Mercy, the IMAs selected the track, "I'm Walkin'" (the old Fats Domino hit), which features Bill on flute, Robi Botos on piano, Pat Collins on bass and John Sumner on drums.
FREE DOWNLOAD
You can now get a free download of the second track, "Willow Weep For Me", from Bill's most recent album entitled, Mercy (featuring Robi Botos). This free download is available at ReverbNation. All you have to do to get it is to click here.
LATEST RELEASE
The Bill McBirnie Duo/Quartet
(Featuring Robi Botos)
Mercy
(Featuring Robi Botos)
Mercy
Following up on his two previously acclaimed acoustic projects (Nature Boy with Mark Eisenman and Paco Paco with Bernie Senensky), “extreme flutist”, Bill McBirnie, has come out swinging and scintillating once again with yet another exceptional acoustic flute release, Mercy.
On Mercy, Bill joins forces with Romani piano sensation, Robi Botos, for a series of duos and, for the remaining quartet pieces, Bill couples Robi with a steadfast rhythm section consisting of the sure-footed Pat Collins on bass and the rock-solid John Sumner on drums.
Mercy presents a diverse—as well as gratifying—mix of both duo and quartet tracks that run the gamut from bebop (“Yardbird Suite”) to bossa nova (“Gentle Rain”) right through to Dixieland (“Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”). Included with the more standard fare is the title track, “Mercy”, a poignant rhapsody written by pianist, Robi Botos.
In keeping with Bill’s previous two Extreme Flute releases, Mercy remains faithful to the spontaneous and down-to-earth qualities of a blowing session resulting in another album with inevitable “drop-the-needle-anywhere” charm and allure.
Mercy clocks in at 60:00 minutes and, in so doing, provides precisely one hour of great listening with repertoire that consists of the following (including the opening two tracks which pay tribute to Bill's longstanding influences, Hubert Laws and Jeremy Steig respectively):
(1) Baila Cinderella (Hubert Laws) – cha cha cha
(2) Willow Weep For Me (Ann Ronell) – ballad
(3) Airegin (Sonny Rollins) – bebop
(4) Stuffy Turkey (Thelonious Monk) – medium swing
(5) Gentle Rain (Louis Bonfa) – slow bossa nova
(6) I’m Walkin’ (Bartholomew/Domino) – medium swing
(7) Yardbird Suite (Charlie Parker) – bebop
(8) Way Down Yonder In New Orleans (Creamer/Layton) – Dixieland
(9) Moment’s Notice (John Coltrane) – up swing
(10) Minha Saudade (Joao Donato) – medium bossa nova
(11) Groovin’ High (Dizzy Gillespie) – bebop
(12) Mercy (Robi Botos) – slow rhapsody
Mercy is now available at major retailers and online at iTunes. You can also purchase Mercy at CD Baby in the US or, alternatively, you can order it directly from the distributor, Indie Pool, here in Canada by mail, phone or secure e-commerce.
Mercy is now available at major retailers and online at iTunes. You can also purchase Mercy at CD Baby in the US or, alternatively, you can order it directly from the distributor, Indie Pool, here in Canada by mail, phone or secure e-commerce.
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A Brief Summary of Some of Bill's Awards & Achievements
- USA Independent Music Awards - Nominated - Best Jazz Album (Mercy) - 2011
- National Flute Association - Winner - Jazz Flute Big Band Competition - 2009
- National Jazz Awards - Nominated - Best Album (Paco Paco) - 2007
- Nominated - Best Instrumentalist (Flute) - 2007- Resident Jazz Flute Specialist at Sir James Galway's Official Web Site - 2005
- Top 40 Album - Jazz.FM91 & "Jazz With Bob Parlocha" (Nature Boy) - 2003
- National Flute Association - Winner - Jazz Flute Masterclass Competition - 2003
- The Jazz Report - Flutist of the Year - 1999h
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ALL OF BILL'S ALBUMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT CD BABY
