Clemens (1980) began singing and playing bass in the band of his older brothers, the Feenbrothers, at the age of eleven after some occasional drumming on various household items. In addition to many concerts throughout Europe, the brothers performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1993.
Later, Clemens studied jazz and classical double bass at the Conservatories of Amsterdam and in Germany (with Božo Paradžik), receiving his Master’s degrees in both fields with honors.
After performing with orchestras such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, his main focus returned to jazz and improvised music. He lived in New York for a period to study with Ben Street, among others. Upon returning to the Netherlands, he grew into one of the most sought-after bass players on the scene.
In 2010 Clemens started the Clemens van der Feen Band, which resulted in the album “High Places” (2011), featuring the great Toots Thielemans as a special guest. In 2013 he released the album “14PM”, which was called “one of the highlights of Dutch contemporary jazz” by Jazzism Magazine.
In 2022 he released a singer-songwriter album called ‘Pop into Being’ under the name Clemens Zebulon. The album was reviewed by Music Maker Magazine as:
“…megatalent….lovely album…beautiful record with great songs”
In 2021 he was invited by legendary pianist Brad Mehldau to join a quartet that also featured Joris Roelofs and Jorge Rossy. In 2024 the band reunited for three concerts at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam.
Clemens has also performed with the Fred Hersch Trio and many other great musicians, including the late Toots Thielemans, Jesse van Ruller, Tony Malaby, Jeff Ballard, Pablo Held, Reinier Baas, Ben van Gelder, Chris Potter, Nelson Veras, Harmen Fraanje, Robin Verheyen, Tineke Postma, Kit Downes, Dré Pallemaerts, Becca Stevens, Greg Osby, Marc Copland, Mark Murphy, Alex Sipiagin, Lionel Loueke, Terri Lyne Carrington, Dan Weiss, Ari Hoenig, Ben Monder, Joey Baron, and Billy Hart. Currently, Clemens working with Tutu Puoane (South Africa) and the Paul Lay Trio (France).
Clemens has performed all over the world, from jazz clubs in Paris and Tokyo to venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna and Carnegie Hall in New York.
