Variations: Music at Bromfield Gallery presents an evening of improvised music by Trash Ensemble, a New England-based group convened by Mary Staubitz along with Sean Christian Fennessy, Tim Johnson, Seamus R Williams, and Vic Rawlings.

Admission: $5

Mary Staubitz has been known as minimalist electronic artist Donna Parker, playing short aggressive sets since 2001. Recently Staubitz has branched out into electro acoustic music, playing found metal objects on a steel turntable with no amplification. Staubitz currently plays in the electro-acoustic trio Grease Release with Sean Fennessy on horn and Tim Johnson on turntable; the tape loop and turntable duo Little Cups with Seamus R. Williams; and the electrified manipulators Golden Shores with Daniel Boucher.

Sean Christian Fennessy plays a variety of horns in experimental and improvisational environments. Drawing inspiration from Bill Dixon, Toshinori Kondo, and the kitchen, Fennessy uses pans and mixing bowls in his intuitive and subtle work. Fennessy plays horn in Grease Release with Staubitz and Johnson; improv duo Double Dragon with Joseph Mauro on drums; and free jazz trio Infrastructure Rot with Mauro and guitarist Brent Frattini.

Tim Johnson’s solo project Poacher uses items straight off the workbench – bandsaws, voltage converters, scrap metal – in conjunction with a mic’d turntable to create jarring and powerful collapsed rhythms. Johnson is also an accomplished photographer, hanging work in Easthampton and Providence. Johnson is chief scrap metal bin diver in Grease Release with Staubitz and Fennessy, and guitarist in grindcore outfit Celine Demon with Joseph Mauro on drums and Oberon Red Man on vocals and electronics.

Seamus R Williams’s prolific artistic output centers around field recordings, unusual found instrumentation, and collage art. Williams uses homemade synths, pre amps, and modified media players in his solo project TVE and groups Lean (with Mickey O’Hara) and Little Cups (with Staubitz), in addition to producing cassettes under Ayurvedic Tapes.

Vic Rawlings is an improviser whose instrumentation includes prepared cello, eviscerated effects pedals, and speaker arrays. He has collaborated with a wide range of artists that has included Greg Kelley, Jason Lescalleet, Tatsuya Nakatani, Tim Feeney, Ikue Mori, and Laurence Cook. Rawlings co-directed Linefork, a feature-length nonfiction film centered on the daily rituals of master Kentucky banjo player Lee Sexton (Smithsonian Folkways) and his wife Opal. Rawlings is a teacher, a banjoist, and Sexton’s longtime student.

Variations: Music at Bromfield Gallery is a monthly series devoted to presenting site-specific performances of improvised music at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston’s South End. The series is curated by Michael Rosenstein.

Upcoming performances in the series:
Tuesday, Jan. 29 — Kevin Emil Micka
Tuesday, Feb 26 — Mickey O’Hara and Arkm Foam duo