After some occasional drumming on various items, Clemens (1980) began singing and playing bass in the band of his older brothers (the Feenbrothers) at the age of eleven. Later on, he studied jazz and classical bass at the Conservatories of Amsterdam and Detmold (Germany) and received his Master Degree in both fields with honors.
After playing with orchestras like the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, his main focus became jazz and improvised music. He lived in New York for a while to take lessons with Ben Street, among others. Returning to the Netherlands, he grew out to be one of the most sought-after bass players around.
In 2010 Clemens started the Clemens van der Feen Band, resulting in an album called “High Places” (2011), with as special guest the great Toots Thielemans! The year 2013 saw the birth of yet a new band, the Clemens van der Feen 4tet, and a new album: “14PM” which was called “ one of the highlights of Dutch contemporary jazz…” by Jazzism Magazine.
Clemens is currently working with Tutu Puoane (SA), Dré Pallemaerts ‘Seva’ feat. Sebastian Gille and Pablo Held (BE/GER/NL), the Michael Moore Quartet feat. Harmen Fraanje and Gerry Hemingway (US/NL), ‘Medusa Beats’ featuring Jonas Burgwinkel (DE) and Benoît Delbecq (FR), the Paul Lay Trio (FR), Robin Verheyen (BE), Octurn (BE/FR), Franz von Chossy (DE/NL) and every now and then with classical groups like the New Dutch Academy, The Dutch Wind Ensemble (NBE) and the Grammy Award winning orchestra LUDWIG. In days gone by, Clemens has performed with many great international musicians such as the late Toots Thielemans, Tony Malaby, Chris Potter, Nelson Veras, Becca Stevens & Billy Hart.
Clemens has been playing all over the world, from jazz clubs in Paris and Tokyo to the Musikverein in Vienna and Carnegie Hall in New York. Clemens plays on a double bass from the collection of the NMF.
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