The Bill McBirnie Duo/Quartet (Featuring Robi Botos) - Mercy

[Bill McBirnie]

The Bill McBirnie Duo/Quartet
(Featuring Robi Botos)
Mercy

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 flute release, Mercy.

On Mercy, Bill joins forces with Romani piano sensation, Robi Botos, for a series of duos and, for the remaining quartet pieces, 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 plus 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”). Included with 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 inevitable “drop-the-needle-anywhere” charm and allure.

Mercy clocks in at 60:00 minutes and, in so doing, provides precisely one hour of great listening with repertoire that consists of the following (including the opening two tracks which pay tribute to Bill's longstanding influences, Hubert Laws and Jeremy Steig respectively):

(1) Baila Cinderella (Hubert Laws) – cha cha cha
(2) Willow Weep For Me (Ann Ronell) – ballad
(3) Airegin (Sonny Rollins) – bebop
(4) Stuffy Turkey (Thelonious Monk) – medium swing
(5) Gentle Rain (Louis Bonfa) – slow bossa nova
(6) I’m Walkin’ (Bartholomew/Domino) – medium swing
(7) Yardbird Suite (Charlie Parker) – bebop
(8) Way Down Yonder In New Orleans (Creamer/Layton) – Dixieland
(9) Moment’s Notice (John Coltrane) – up swing
(10) Minha Saudade (Joao Donato) – medium bossa nova
(11) Groovin’ High (Dizzy Gillespie) – bebop
(12) Mercy (Robi Botos) – slow rhapsody

Mercy is now available at major retailers and from CD Baby as well as directly through Indie Pool. You can order Mercy from CD Baby at www.cdbaby.com or through Indie Pool (by mail, phone or secure e-commerce) as follows:

Indie Pool Canada
118 Berkeley Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 2W9
1-888-88-INDIE (1-888-884-6343) toll-free
www.indiepool.com

[NOTE: Do not hesitate to contact Bill for interviews regarding his new CD, Mercy. You can reach him directly by email at extremeflute@look.ca or by phone at (416) 652-1541.]