Saturday, April 4, 2015

CANADA: Flute Bits - April 2015 - Bill McBirnie

Flute Bits - April 2015 - Bill McBirnie

Hi, Everyone:

Here are several recent items, each which is set out in further detail just below my signature:

(1)  FOUR80EAST - CANDID CLIP FROM THE NEXT ALBUM

(2)  JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL - J.S. BACH’S “ARIOSO”

(3)  BOB PARLOCHA - “THE LAST SPIN”

(4)  GIG LISTING

Finally, thanks very much (…both for reading and for listening!…)

Sincerely,
 
Bill McBirnie - Extreme Flute
Phone:  (416) 652-1541
 
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.  In practice, there is."  (Yogi Berra)


(1)  FOUR80EAST - CANDID CLIP FROM THE NEXT ALBUM

This is a short, candid clip that Rob DeBoer took while I was recording a take for the forthcoming Four80East album! (…It’s all over in 45 seconds!…)



(2)  JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL - J.S. BACH’S “ARIOSO”

Jean-Pierre Rampal was an enormous influence on me when I was growing up and just learning how to play the flute in my home town of Port Colborne, Ontario.  I recently came across this short (three-and-a half minute) clip of a JPR recording of Bach’s “Arioso”.  This clip makes it very clear why BOTH Rampal and Bach have been such formative influences (…and why they both captured my ear at a very young age!… :-)



(3)  BOB PARLOCHA - “THE LAST SPIN”

I still find it hard to believe that Bob Parlocha has passed because, for the past ten to twelve years, Bob has regularly played tracks from all of my acoustic jazz albums (including Nature Boy with Mark Eisenman, Paco Paco and Find Your Place with Bernie Senensky and Mercy with Robi Botos).

All of these musicians certainly made it worth Bob’s while to do so.  And there is also absolutely no doubt that Bob was enormously generous, to a LOT of Canadian jazz musicians (especially indies like me), and he was gracious enough to place all of us amidst some of the best jazz playlists ever!

I first came to know about Bob, NOT as a player, but as a LISTENER.  I still remember the first time I heard him which was about 15 years ago.  Driving home late one night with my wife, we were tuned into Jazz.FM91 and the DJ, whom I had never heard before, was playing some absolutely great tracks.  Then, as we got closer to home, he played a cut from Jeremy Steig’s first album, Flute Fever.  I was shocked because, first, the DJ obviously knew about this remarkable piece of work which had been recorded (at that point in time) almost 40 years earlier!  And, second because, as I said to my wife at the time, “I know this guy is spinning vinyl, because that has NEVER been reissued on CD!”  (…Uber hip!…)  So my wife and I stayed in the car until we found out who that DJ was…and it was Bob…

Little did I know that, of all the jazz DJs in the world, in just a couple of years, Bob would be spinning my first acoustic jazz album (Nature Boy), and that he would be doing so with each succeeding release, for the next decade.

Here is Bob’s March 24th playlist (which included “Poinciana” (from Nature Boy with The Mark Eiseman Trio), all 10 minutes and 44 seconds!)…And this was, for me, “the last spin”… :-(


RIP, Bob.  You will be pretty well impossible to replace (…and, unfortunately, a LOT of Canadian jazz musicians just lost a voice in the USA… :-(


(5)  GIG LISTING

[ NOTE:  This gig listing is in DESCENDING order.  Also, you can always find a current/updated gig listing at the following link:  http://www.extremeflute.com/contact.html ]

Sun., July 26, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.
Morgans on the Danforth
1282 Danforth Ave. (at Greenwood)
Toronto, Ontario
With STEPHEN GARDNER on keys

Thurs., Jul. 16, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Walker House
146 High St.
Southhampton, Ontario
With the CHARLIE BELL Trio

Tues. & Wed., June 23 & 24, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Hot House Restaurant
35 Church St.
Toronto, Ontario
With BRENDA CAROL & CLAIRVOYANCE

Mon., June 22, 2015 at 9:00 p.m.
Mezzetta Cafe Restaurant
681 St. Clair Ave. W. (at Christie)
Toronto, Ontario
With the great LOUIS SIMAO (guitar & vocals) - Brazilian!

Sun., June 21, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.
Morgans on the Danforth
1282 Danforth Ave. (at Greenwood)
Toronto, Ontario
With STEPHEN GARDNER on keys

Fri., June 19, 2015 at 4:00 p.m.
Canadian Flute Association (CFA) 2015 Convention
St. Michael's College (SMC), University of Toronto
St. George Campus
Toronto, Ontario
CLINIC on the topic of: "Making the Transition - From Classical to Jazz"

Wed., June 10, 2015 at 8:30 p.m.
Lula Lounge
1585 Dundas St. W.
Toronto, Ontario
With ROB TEEHAN - CD Release - “Come Home"

Fri. & Sat., Apr. 24 & 25, 2015 at 9:00 p.m.
Jazz Bistro
251 Victoria St.
Toronto, Ontario
With MEMO ACEVEDO's Building Bridges Band

Sun., Apr. 12, 2015 at 4:30 p.m.
St. Jude's Anglican Church
160 William St.
Oakville, Ontario
Jazz Vespers with BRIAN HAYMAN and Getting In The Groove

Tues., Apr. 7, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
The Salty Dog
1980 Queen St. E. (in the Beach)
Toronto, Ontario
With the GREG PILO (including BERNIE SENENSKY and NEIL SWAINSON)

Sat., April 4, 2015 at 7:30
The Home Smith Bar at The Old Mill
21 Old Mill Rd.
Toronto, Ontario
With BERNIE SENENSKY and NEIL SWAINSON
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