bits of pieces

Isaac Boothman

Cut Your Teeth & Braid Your Hair

In February 2024, I met with friends Bethany Kay and Vato Klemera, and spent a day playing, improvising, and testing ideas to record basic demos. I wanted to get used to leading sessions and developing communication skills, as well as testing out different ways of improvising – teaching pre-written material, coming with building blocks or prompts, and pure devising.

I brought a jazz-inspired jig, ‘Cut Your Teeth’, and a folk-style song, ‘Braid Your Hair’, before spending time coming up new pieces and soundtracking poems.

This project was supported by Sound and Music’s Francis Chagrin Awards.

Photo of Isaac, playing melodica, curly hair over their shoulder.
Photo of a trumpet, struck by light in bedroom.
Photo of melodica
Photo of a dutch plait on brown hair.

Some excerpts

Braid Your Hair by Isaac Boothman
Sung by Bethany Hopkins, Vato Klemera & Isaac Boothman

Improv. No.7 by Isaac Boothman (trumpet), Bethany Hopkins (clarinet) & Vato Klemera (melodica)

Improv. No.10 by Isaac Boothman (ukulele), Bethany Hopkins (voice & percussion) & Vato Klemera (melodica)

Improv. No.15 by Vato Klemera (percussion and melodica), Bethany Hopkins (clarinet) & Isaac Boothman (melodica)

Improv. No.11 by Bethany Hopkins (banjo), Vato Klemera (melodica) & Isaac Boothman (voice and body percussion)