THE EX 33 ⅓ YEARS
ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL!
Na afloop: DJ KEN VANDERMARK
The Ex (Katherina Bornefeld, Andy Moor, Terrie Hessels, Arnold de Boer) & Brass Unbound (Peter Evans, Mats Gustafsson, Wolter Wierbos, Ken Vandermark), Fendika (Melaku Belay, Endres Hassen, Misale Legesse, Zenash Tsegaye, Nardus Tesfaw), Circus Debre Berhan (Netsanet Mamo, Abonesh Yilma, Habtamnesh Behailu, Girum Kelemu, Hiwot Tilahun, Henok Ashagir), Zerfu Demissie, Xavier Charles, Oscar Jan Hoogland, Joost Buis, A.L. Snijders, Ditmer Weertman, Axel Dörner, John Butcher, Yannis Kyriakidis, Ab Baars, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jaap Blonk, Onno Govaert, John Dikeman, Jasper Stadhouders, Raoul van der Weide, Anne-James Chaton, Jackdaw with Crowbar (Tim Ellis, Fergus Durrant, Adam Sindall), Api Uiz (Enrique Vega, Ian Saboya, Jorge Vega)
The adventurous, innovative Dutch band The Ex celebrates its 33 1/3 year anniversary with a two day festival which is not merely retrospective but primarily forward-looking and adventurous. Among the many guests invited are young as well as seasoned experimental and improvising musicians from Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, Chicago, Ethiopia, Scandinavia and Great Britain.
The Ex have defied categorization ever since they started playing in 1979. Born out of the punk explosion, when anything and everything was possible, the band have still managed to retain both curiosity and passion for their music. Using guitars, bass, drums and voice as ther starting point The Ex have continued to musically explore undiscovered areas right up to the present day: the early 1980s saw collaborations with jazz musicians and an Iraqi-Kurdish band. In the 90s the group found a myriad of partners from varied musical and non-musical backgrounds including Kamagurka, Tom Cora, Sonic Youth, Han Bennink, Jan Mulder, Ab Baars and Wolter Wierbos. In 2002 The Ex set up a lively musical exchange with Ethiopia, which eventually led to two CD recordings and hundreds of concerts with the legendary saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria.
After 33 1/3 years, more than 25 albums and around 1800 performances the band continues to work as they did in when they began, completely independent of record companies, managers or roadies. Because of this ‘do it yourself’ work ethic The Ex is still a great example for other forward-thinking bands and musicians. ‘Staying a bird, staying independent, free if you will, for three decades, that takes skill and something else, something more like heart’ (music journalist John Corbett on The Ex).
From December 17 until 27 an exhibition about The Ex will be on display at the Bimhuis Café, featuring photographs by Matías Corral, plus posters from the 33 1/3 years-history of The Ex.
Box office, cafe and restaurant open at 18:00.
PROGRAMME December 22:
Zea & Xavier Charles
The Ex & Brass Unbound (Peter Evans, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Wolter Wierbos)
Fendika
Andy Moor & Yannis Kyriakidis
John Butcher
Katherina & Ditmer Weertman
Circus Debre Berhan & John Dikeman
Raoul van der Weide & Peter Evans & Paal Nilssen-Love
Jaap Blonk & Axel Dorner
Api Uiz
Terrie solo
Afterwards, free admission: DJ KEN VANDERMARK