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 regarding 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...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)
- "...All beautifully recorded, unclassifiable, and virtually timeless..." (MICHAEL STEINMAN, Cadence Magazine)
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 respective 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.
Contact: extremeflute@look.ca or (416) 652-1541
EPK (Electronic Press Kit): http://www.sonicbids.com/billmcbirnie
My Space: http://www.myspace.com/billmcbirnieextremeflute
Sir James Galway's Web Site: http://www.thegalwaynetwork.com/jazz/jazz.htm
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