Album Notes

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 release, Mercy.

On Mercy, Bill joins forces with Romani piano sensation, Robi Botos, for a series of duos and, for the remaining quartet tracks, 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”). In addition to 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 real “drop-the-needle-anywhere” charm and allure. The album clocks in at precisely 60:00 minutes and, in so doing, provides one hour of absolutely great listening!