Biography

Tim Booth is a PhD student in the Critical and Comparative Studies program. His research interests include ecomusicology, environmental sound art, jazz history, the history of sound recording, and twentieth-century art music. Methodologically, Tim engages with several disciplinary conversations comprising historical musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, sound studies, anthropology, and aesthetics. 

Prior to joining the CCS graduate program Tim completed a Bachelors of Music majoring in jazz performance and a Masters of Music at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. With his Honors research Tim studied the improvised interaction of pianist Bill Evans and bassist Scott LaFaro. His Master thesis addressed the early fusion jazz of Miles Davis, focusing on the interrelationship of the bandleader’s creative processes in the recording studio and on the concert stage. 

Tim performs regularly as a pianist with UVA jazz combos and with a jazz quintet in Charlottesville. You may also stumble across him on the Rivanna Trail, microphone in hand recording the sounds of local wildlife.