Houben / Son

We no longer present Steve Houben, jazzman with an impressive musical career (we have seen him play alongside legendary artists such as Chet Baker, Bill Frisel, Clark Terry, Lee Konitz, Richie Beirach….) and the imposing discography including some gems signed Igloo (we will highlight among others “HLM”, “Blue Circonstances”, “Houben + strings” and “Comptines”).

His son, Greg Houben, a multi-faceted artist, is known as a jazzman (he notably released 3 albums for Igloo, “After a Dream” with soprano Julie Mossay, “How Deep is the Ocean” with his trio and “Bees and Bumblesbees” with Fabian Fiorini) but also revealed on the ‘song’ scene with the release of his album “A Belgian in Rio”. Also involved in numerous theatrical projects, he is a lover of words and the art of speech, so it is no coincidence that he chose the trumpet, an instrument close to the voice by its principle of vibration of the lips on the mouthpiece.

And then in September 2018, father and son joined forces for the first time around this common repertoire during the Marni Jazz Festival, dedicated to the trumpet. They will then tour a series of locations in Belgium with this quintet formula before recording their first joint album under the name “Houben & Her”.

“7/7” brings together 10 compositions (signed by Greg, Steve and also Fabian Fiorini, Greg’s long-time accomplice). It is the story of the Houben family business, the relationship of a father and a son, the passing of experience, the transmission of heritage, knowledge and taste for music, notably that of beautiful melody, harmony, swing and words (they both put their voices on “Homeboy”) that we find throughout this album.