Terrie Ex (guitar) and Ken Vandermark (reeds) have been working together for many years, performing and recording in the quartet Lean Left (with Paal Nilssen-Love and Andy Moor), and The Ex & Brass Unbound. In September of 2014 they toured together in Europe as a duo for the first time, and since then have performed in this context on a regular basis.

Terrie Ex
Aka Terrie Hessels, born in Westzaan, 1954
Started playing guitar when he co-founded the Ex in 1979. Kind of coincidence; it was the instrument no-one wanted to play. Some 1900 concerts with The Ex ever since. (www.theex.nl). More than 2000 in total.
Next to all The Ex releases, he started free-improvising from the very start. From a little guitarsolo on the Awara/Ex 7″ in 1981, till recent tours with Han Bennink or impro-groups Offonoff or Lean Left (with Ken Vandermark, Andy
and Paal Nilssen-Love).
Played with:
Sonic Youth, John Cale, Getatchew Mekuria, Herman Brood, Herr Seele, Kamagurka, Jan Mulder, Mekons, Chumbawamba, Tsehaytu Beraki, Peter Brozmann, Hamid Drake, Jan Akkerman, Djibril Diabate, Butch Morris, Mats Gustafsson, ICP, Wolter Wierbos, Wilbert de Joode, Zu, Guy Picciotto, Roy Paci, Cactus Truck, Christine Senaoui, Mary Oliver, Ig Henneman, Tim Hodgekinson, Michael Vatcher, Magpie Dancecompany, Alex d’ Electrique, Ferrie Heyne, Saadet Turkoz, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, Melaku Belay, Endris Hassen, Misale Legesse, Noel Akchote, Akira Sakata,
Played duo gigs/tours with:
Andy Moor, Han Bennink, Ab Baars, John Butcher, Rozemarie Heggen, Jaap Blonk, Paul Lovens, Paal Nilssen-Love, Joost Buis, Xavier Charles, Thurston Moore, Steve Beresford, Moe! Staiano, Katherina ‘Ex’ Bornefeld, Tony Buck, Tom Cora, Lasse Marhaug, Ken Vandermark, Steve Albini, Wim Janzen (accordeon), Rene van Barneveld, Onno Govaert. George Hadow, Colin Stetson, Romeo Mayor, Peter Zegveld.

Ken Vandermark
Born in Warwick, Rhode Island on September 22nd, 1964, Ken Vandermark began studying the tenor saxophone at the age of 16. Since graduating with a degree in Film and Communications from McGill University during the spring of 1986, his primary creative emphasis has been the exploration of contemporary music that deals directly with advanced methods of improvisation. In 1989, he moved to Chicago from Boston, and has worked continuously from the early 1990’s onward, both as a performer and organizer in North America and Europe, recording in a large array of contexts, with many internationally renowned musicians (such as Fred Anderson, Ab Baars, Peter Brötzmann, Tim Daisy, Hamid Drake, Terrie Hessels, Mats Gustafsson, Elisabeth Harnik, Steve Heather, Didi Kern, Kent Kessler, Christof Kurzmann, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Paul Lytton, Lasse Marhaug, Joe McPhee, Andy Moor, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Paal Nilssen-Love, Eddie Prevost, Eric Revis, Jasper Stadhouders, Chad Taylor, John Tilbury, Nasheet Waits, and Nate Wooley).
His current activity includes work with Made To Break, Lean Left, Shelter, DEK, The DKV Trio, Fire Room; duos with Paal Nilssen-Love, Tim Daisy, Terrie Hessels, and Nate Wooley, as well as work as a solo performer. Since June of 2015 has been co-curator of Option, a music series held on a weekly basis at the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago. In 2014 he began an independent label, called Audiographic Records, created to document special aspects of his work through albums and books. More than half of each year is spent touring in Europe, North America, Russia, Brazil, and Japan, and his concerts and numerous recordings have been critically acclaimed both at home and abroad. In addition to the tenor sax, he also plays the bass and Bb clarinet, and baritone saxophone.