Steve Houben

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Steve Houben (born March 19, 1950 in Liège ) is a Belgian jazz musician ( alto and soprano saxophone , flute ) and composer.

Live and act

Houben comes from a musical family, but was particularly influenced by the saxophonist Jacques Pelzer , his uncle. He learned the saxophone from him after studying classical flute at the conservatory. With Pelzer and his daughter Micheline and Ron Wilson he later founded the band "Open Sky Unit" (album of the same name 1974). In the mid-1970s he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston . After his return to Belgium he founded the jazz seminar at the Conservatory in Liège with the composer Henri Pousseur . With US musicians he founded the funk bands “Solstice” and “Mauve Traffic” (with Bill Frisell , Vinnie Johnson , Michel Herr, among others ). In 1982 his album "Steven Houben with Strings" was released, in which he builds bridges to classical music. He played with the pianist Charles Loos and the singer Maurane (group "HLM"), with the "Pirotton / Houben / Pougon Trio" and with his own bands such as the fusion band "Cocodrilo", "Cuban Breeze" or the one with Luc Pilartz founded band "Panta Rhei", which is dedicated to the interpretation of European folk music (especially from Eastern Europe). Houben stepped u. a. with Paolo Fresu , Bobo Stenson , Toots Thielemans , Daniel Humair , Alan Skidmore , Aldo Romano , Chet Baker , Mike Stern , Gerry Mulligan , George Coleman , Berten D'Hollander and the Czech pianist Emil Viklický . He is a member of the Belgian-Tunisian band "Anfass" (album of the same name from 2000 on Igloo ).

Currently (2007) he leads the saxophone class at the Brussels Conservatory . Melanie De Biasio is one of his graduates , with whom he has often worked since then. He was also involved in her debut album, A Stomach Is Burning (Igloo Records, 2007).

In 2000 he received the Django d'Or (Belgium) .

Discographic notes

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Houben, Steve
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian jazz saxophonist and flautist
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Liege