Jazz Articles

Bill McBirnie: Forever

by Chris M. Slawecki
April 3, 2022

Canada's Bill McBirnie is known around the world for his flute prowess in Latin, pop, jazz and classical music settings. For example, he was personally recruited by Sir James Galway to serve as Resident Jazz Flute Specialist on Galway's official website. McBirnie published The Technique and Theory of Improvisation: A practical guide for flutists, doublers and other instrumentalists in 2019. He has recorded as sideman with artists in styles ranging from Irakere to Junior Mance. McBirnie is also the only ...

Bill McBirnie: The Silent Wish

by Don Phipps
March 26, 2019

On this set of choice covers and one original, Bill McBirnie uses the flute to express dancing, happiness, blues, romance and melancholy. Sliding effortlessly along the keys of his instrument, McBirnie produces a wonderfully cool tone. Take his work on Ray Bryant's “Reflection" or Kenny Dorham's “Blue Bossa." There's a peppy action to it, like a kite darting back and forth in the sky. The album features musical conversations between McBirnie and pianist Bernie Senensky. These conversations have ...

The Bill McBirnie Trio: Find Your Place

by Edward Blanco
March 9, 2014

Canadian jazz flautist Bill McBirnie fronts a unique organ trio on Find Your Place, his sixth album as a leader. McBirnie lends his “Extreme" flute and award-winning chops to an array of swing, Latin-flavored, bossa nova, shuffle and ballads in one audacious outing. Joining forces with fellow Canadians Bernie Senensky on Hammond B3 organ and Anthony Michelli on drums, the trio play their way through a sensational selection of standards from such icons as Cole Porter, Horace Silver, Duke Pearson ...

The Bill McBirnie Trio: Find Your Place

by Dan McClenaghan
December 20, 2013

The standard organ trio doesn't usually include a flute. On paper, it sounds like a bad idea. It seems as if the cool breeze aspects of the airy blowing of the flute would get lost in the organ's electric woosh. As it turns out, flutist Bill McBirnie's Find Your Place, proves those seemingly similar sounds to be quite complimentary. The genesis for the project lies in the recording of a previous McBirnie set, Paco Paco (Extreme Flute, 2005). ...

The Bill McBirnie Duo/Quartet: Paco Paco

by Jerry D'Souza
November 13, 2005

Include Bill McBirnie as an integral player in Canadian jazz. The Toronto-based flautist has marked his credentials through recordings of his own, in addition to appearances on albums by Junior Mance, Memo Acavedo, and Irakere; jam sessions at the Colored Musicians Club of Buffalo; and appearances with Herbie Mann, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey. Listening to McBirnie makes his credentials clear. He dips into the nectar of a melody and his dulcet tones rise to trigger the core of his ...

Bill McBirnie: Nature Boy

by Jack Bowers
April 2, 2003

Now that the great Moe Koffman is no longer among us, there’s an opening in Canada for an outstanding straight-ahead jazz flutist, and I suspect that, with Nature Boy, Bill McBirnie has submitted his application and staked his claim.

In the liner notes McBirnie is modest about his talents, but he needn’t be. He has great chops, a clear, sparkling sound and enough luminous ideas to brighten anyone’s melancholy frame of mind. McBirnie showcases each of those assets on an ...