Saturday, March 7, 2015

Bill McBirnie & Bruce Jones – Grain of Sand

Bill McBirnie & Bruce Jones – Grain of Sand

I am pleased to announce the latest Extreme Flute release, Grain of Sand, which features me on flute, alto flute and piccolo along with the multi-talented singer-songwriter, Bruce Jones.
Grain of Sand consists of original material in a variety of Brazilian formats—but with lots of improvised flute work!
As a bit of a teaser, you can listen to (…and download!…) the opening track here:

The album is now available at CDBaby and iTunes.  Just click on either of the following links:

Also, here are a couple of early responses to Grain of Sand:

“…McBirnie’s brilliant flute technique and sensitive improvisatory style happily unite with Jones’ diverse skills and genuine gift for songwriting as they demonstrate their shared love for Brazilian music. You will sense the empathy between them immediately, from the opening track of the album, “Grain of Sand”, where bossa nova is fused with the plaintive melody of traditional Portuguese fado. Flickering like a candle caressed by the wind, the sound of Bill’s flute enchants the listener, right from the opening few bars.  And following this tender opening comes a whirlwind of samba rhythms combined with hip-hop vocals and yet more flawless flute improvisation on “If I Stay With You”.  Just these two opening tracks portray the scope of moods in the music awaiting you on the rest of this album!…”  (LEONID AUSKERN, JazzQuad.ru)
“…A fine album! I look forward to playing the tracks on Stolen Moments!...” (DAVID BASSKIN, Jazz.FM91, Canada's premier jazz station)
Finally, in order to give you some idea of the content of the album, I have appended a complete track listing below.
As always, thanks for listening—and perhaps even “investing” in—Grain of Sand! :-)
Sincerely,

Bill McBirnie - Extreme Flute
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.  In practice, there is."  (Yogi Berra)

TRACK LISTING:
(1) Grain of Sand (Grão de Areia) 4:50
- fado, bossa nova (instrumental)
(2) Se Eu Fico Com Você (If I Stay With You) 5:03
- hip-hop, samba, rock (with voice)
(3) Quando A Chuva Cai (As The Rain Falls) 4:43
- ambient (instrumental)
(4) Izabel (Isabel) 4:06
- bossa nova (with voice)
(5) Lembrando Paul Horn (Remembering Paul Horn) 2:08
- ambient (instrumental)
(6) Breque Trio a Trêz (Break Samba Trio for Three) 4:42
- samba de breque (instrumental)
(7) Carnaval Blue (Blue Carnival) 3:27
- funk, samba (with voice)
(8) Vai Bem Devagar (Proceed With Caution) 5:26
- 6/8 bossa (instrumental)
(9) Cê Tá Com Tudo (You Are Everything) 4:45
- samba, rock (with voice)
(10) A Ponte Para Carlton (The Carlton Bridge) 4:35
- 6/8 afro brasil (instrumental)
(11) Na Quinta Esquina (On The Fifth Corner) 4:07
- ambient (instrumental)
(12) Motel Cê Que Sabe (...Who Knows Motel...) 5:08
- flowing samba (instrumental)
(13) Com ou Sem Você, Meu Amor (With or Without You, My Love) 5:16
- hip-hop samba (with voice)
(14) Grão de Areia (Grain of Sand) 3:37
- folkloric (with voice)
Total 61:53