“Dutch acoustic bass player Luc Ex was a original member of the punk/rock band THE EX. Since leaving the band in 2003 he has become a force for creative music-making and improvisation, driven by his punk roots and the Dutch experimental music scene”
– by Ottawa Jazz festival 2017.

“A masterclass for the early hours of Monday morning in Dalston”
– about Luc ExAssemblee @ london Jazz festival by Geoff Winston / LondonJAzzNews

” It is a typical Luc Ex bass line, terse and condensed like a haiku but full of character and nostalgia. As it repeats, this rhythmical line begins to exude a sense of foreboding. Especially when performed live; Luc Ex attacks his instrument like a skilful contemporary dancer, almost beating up the wood in order to produce the notes” – about Rubatong by Jaïr Tchong/ Volkskrant

Born as Luc Klaasen in 1958 in Holland.
After being a taxi-driver in Amsterdam for many years he started his musical activities in 1983 (The Ex), making films (Mal Films) and was one of the founders of the CD distribution and production company ‘Konkurrent Onafhankelijk Muziekbedrijf BV’.
In 2015 he stopped with his work @ Konkurrent.

For many years he was one of the driving forces behind the band The Ex.

They received large international recognition for their unconventional interpretation of music and their consistent political attitude, their ‘organic way’ of making music and the fact they kept their independency from the big commercial music-business.

After they won the national dutch pop-price ‘BV POP’ in 1991 this appreciation only got bigger. The Ex worked also with a large variety of artists and musicians including Han Bennink, Ab Baars, avant garde cellist Tom Cora, Kurdish singer Brader, the Malian group Lanaya but also toured with pop groups like Sonic Youth, Shellac, Chumbawamba, Tortoise & Fugazi.

One of Luc Ex’s last projects within The Ex was the spectacular orchestra EX ORKEST: a 20 piece bigband with an enormous sound, dynamics and energy. Lyrics were written by the dutch writer and ex-soccer player Jan Mulder (Ajax, Anderlecht).

In 1996 Luc Ex and Tom Cora started a group called ROOF (1996-1998). A 4tet with vocal virtuoso Phil Minton and drummer Michael Vatcher. After Tom’s tragic death the group decided to continue but under a different name and with pianist Veryan Weston: 4Walls, (1999-2006). Both groups released several cd’s and toured many times through Europe and North America and played on many big jazz festivals. They were specifically appreciated by their approach of combining tightly rehearsed pieces with free improvisations that link and reflect the composed material.

After 4Walls Luc Ex continued this mixture of written music and free improvisation with his project SOL (2007-2012). It emerged in 2 shapes : the ‘chamber-ensemble’ SOL6 & and ‘small bigband’ SOL12. The musicians in both SOL’s were withn europe’s finest improvisers and are, -more by coincidence than intention-, also an equal balance of genders.
In 2009 he was granted a subsidy by the dutch NFPK to write pieces for SOL12.

In 2010 he also started dada-free-improgroep: TRIOLEX (2010-2012) (w/ Phil Minton, Tristan Honsinger, Serigne McGueye)

One of the first project after he left The Ex was with belgian absurdist Kamagurka (2003-2005). Played a serie of concerts and produced a cd under the title: ‘KAMAGURKA & DE RIDDER van den APOCALYPS’ They played mainly concerts in Holland and Belgium .

In 2006 he was also invited by Franz Hautziger’s ‘Regenorchestre XII’ (w/ oa. Franz Hautzinger, Otomo Yoshihide, Christian Fennesz).

Also invited to play in the group SPEEQ, w/ Hasse Poulsen, Sidsel Endresen and Mark Sanders.

In 2011 he was invited together with Johannes Bauer to join Isabelle Duthoit’s ‘BOUGE’. Also a extrodinary free impro group.

In 2012 he was wrote the music for the the theater piece ‘Ik, Een Eiland’.

His writing took another step when he got the opportunity to combine his passion for sounds with his music. In 2015 he was granted a subsidy to write 9 pieces all based and inspired on inevitables sounds, called Music Of Inevitable Sounds. This contemporary music had his première on the Wien Modern festival / Vienna in nov 2015.