Bill McBirnie is a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and Latin

Latin American music

Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...

 flutist from Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Bill studied with renowned American flutist, Samuel Baron, Canadian flutist and composer, Robert Aitken

Robert Aitken (composer)

Robert Morris Aitken, is a Canadian composer and flautist. He began his career as a teenager playing in a number of orchestras, notably becoming the youngest principal flautist in the history of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1958 at the age if 19. In 1971 he abandoned ensemble performance...

, as well as Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n charanga

Charanga

Charanga is a term given to traditional ensembles of Cuban dance music. They made Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s and their music consisted of heavily son-influenced material, performed on European instruments such as violin and flute by a Charanga orchestra....

 legend, Richard Egues. McBirnie is known for his excellent technique and he is also recognized as an accomplished improviser, notably in the bebop

Bebop

Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...

, swing

Swing (genre)

Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...

 and Latin idioms as illustrated by his recordings as a sideman with Junior Mance

Junior Mance

Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. is an American jazz pianist and composer.-Biography:...

 ("Here 'Tis", Sackville Records) Irakere

Irakere

Irakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...

 ("Afrocubanismo Live", Bembe Records), Memo Acevedo

Memo Acevedo

http://www.kosamusic.com/archives/MemoAcevedo_web-03.jpgMemo Acevedo is an Afro-Cuban jazz drummer born in Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia. He is most often a sideman, though he has recorded one album as leader titled "Building Bridges" from 1993 released by The Jazz Alliance...

 ("Building Bridges", Jazz Alliance), Emilie-Claire Barlow ("The Very Thought of You", Empress Music) and Cache ("Blended" and "The Toronto Sessions", Indie Pool) . He has performed with many of Toronto's foremost musicians including as a longstanding and charter member of Bernie Senensky's Moe Koffman Tribute Band.

Here are 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

James Galway

- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...

, Galway-Flute-Chat, Message #507, Sunday, December 25, 2005)

“In both duo and quartet formats, McBirnie dazzles...In every instance, his technique is flawless, dynamic and often simply jaw-dropping...McBirnie has been called Canada’s standout jazz flautist. I maintain he is one of the top two or three in the world. “ (MARK E. GALLO, JazzReview.com, May 2010)

“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

Stuart Broomer

Stuart Broomer is a Canadian editor, music critic, pianist, writer, jazz historian, and composer. He is a former editor with CODA magazine and currently works as an editor at Coach House Books...

, Editor, CODA

CODA (magazine)

CODA is a Canadian magazine devoted to covering all things related to jazz. The magazine produces 6 publications a year on a bi-monthly basis...

, Toronto Life, April 2004)

“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, Globe and Mail, page R6, Thursday, December 19, 2002)

“...All beautifully recorded, unclassifiable, and virtually timeless...” (Michael Steinman, Cadence Magazine, July 2004, page 109))

In addition, McBirnie has produced two Extreme Flute projects ("Desvio" and "Scratch It!") 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

Bob Parlocha

Robert "Bob" Parlocha is an American jazz expert who, for many years, is best known as a radio host and programmer. He is also a professional saxophone player.-Local journey to success:...

’s syndicated jazz program as well as steady air-play in their spin cycles. Both albums have also garnered consistently excellent reviews internationally—in Canada, the USA, Britain, Spain, Australia, Holland and France.

McBirnie's most recent release entitled, "Mercy" (featuring Romani piano sensation, Robi Botos), has also garnered critical success as well as the 2009/2010 Toronto Independent Music Award (TIMA) in the "Best Jazz" category.

McBirnie 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 was recruited directly by James Galway

James Galway

- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...

to serve as his resident Jazz Flute Specialist at his official web site.