Bill McBirnie

Bill McBirnie is a jazz and Latin flautist. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but he was raised in the small town of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada.

Bill McBirnie - Extreme Flute
Bill McBirnie
BornMay 23, 1953
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OriginPort Colborne, Ontario, Canada
GenresJazz, Latin, Improvised
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsFlute, Alto Flute, Piccolo
Websiteextremeflute.com

Career

His teachers included Canadian flautist Robert Aitken, American flautist Samuel Baron, and Cuban charanga legend Richard Egues.

McBirnie has recorded several albums under his own name. He has also recorded extensively as a sideman, including with Junior Mance, Irakere, Four80East, Memo Acevedo, and Emilie-Claire Barlow.[1]

He has been a longstanding contributor to the Woodwinds Column of the Canadian Musician magazine, and was recruited personally by Sir James Galway to serve as his resident Jazz Flute Specialist.[1][2]

He is also author of the book, The Technique and Theory of Improvisation: A practical guide for flutists, doublers, and other instrumentalists.

Awards and honors

The Silent Wish (with Bernie Senensky), was nominated for a Juno Award as Best Instrumental Album of the Year in 2020.

McBirnie was featured with Four80East in the #1 Billboard magazine Smooth Jazz hit, "Cinco Cinco Seis" in 2019. McBirnie was then again featured by Four80East in the 2020 Billboard hit, "Ba Ba Brazil".

Find You Place won the 2016 Vox Pop award in the Jazz Instrumental category at the 14th Annual Independent Music Awards (IMAs) in the USA.

In 2013, the venerable American flute maker, William S. Haynes Co., designated McBirnie as a Haynes Artist.

Mercy (featuring Romani pianist, Robi Botos[3]) won the 2009/2010 Toronto Independent Music Award (TIMA) in the Best Jazz category as well as a nomination in the Independent Music Awards (IMAs) in the USA.

McBirnie was chosen Flutist of the Year by the Jazz Report Awards (1999), and nominated as both Miscellaneous Instrumentalist of the Year and Best Album for "Paco Paco" at the National Jazz Awards (2007).

In 2005, McBirnie was solicited personally by Sir James Galway to serve as the resident Jazz Flute Specialist at his official website.

He is the only flutist to have won all three of the USA National Flute Association's jazz flute Masterclass (2003), Big Band (2009) and Soloist (2012) Competitions, .[1]

Discography

As leader
  • 1998 Desvio with Bruce Jones (Extreme Flute)
  • 2002 Scratch It! (Extreme Flute)
  • 2003 Nature Boy with Mark Eisenman (Extreme Flute)
  • 2006 Paco Paco with Bernie Senensky (Extreme Flute)
  • 2010 Mercy with Robi Botos (Extreme Flute)
  • 2014 Find Your Place with Bernie Senensky[1] (Extreme Flute)
  • 2015 Grain of Sand with Bruce Jones (Extreme Flute)
  • 2018 The Silent Wish with Bernie Senensky (Extreme Flute)[4]

As sideman
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References
  1. "Extreme Flute - Bill McBirnie - Bio & Music". www.extremeflute.com. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2015-01-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. d'Gama Rose, Raul (2010-02-15). "CD/LP review: Mercy". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 27 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  4. "Bill McBirnie | Album Discography | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. "Bill McBirnie | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
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