Son of saxophonist and flautist Steve Houben, Grégory Houben was born in Verviers (Belgium) on September 18, 1978, and like him chose the path of jazz. Trained as a trumpeter, he moved between instrumental jazz in trio or quartet and bossa nova-style chanson, following in the footsteps of Chet Baker. After a detour into acting in plays, in 2008 he formed the Greg Houben Trio with Sam Gerstamns (double bass) and Quentin Liégeois (drums), an acoustic group that recorded the album How Deep Is the Ocean, released the following year, in which his compositions blend with standards by Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael, Rodgers & Hart and Jimmy Heath. He then surrounded himself with new musicians, Pascal Mohy (piano), Sal La Rocca (double bass) and Rick Hollander (drums), for a quartet collaboration with saxophonist Pierrick Piédron, resulting in the album Greg Houben Quartet Meets Pierrick Piédron (2010), featuring original pieces and a cover of the Brazilian classic "Construçao " by Chico Buarque. He creates a short-lived sextet, the Bop and Soul Sextt, which produces the album Hydrogen Bond (2011). His first album of songs, Un Belge à Rio, recorded during an excursion to Brazil, includes his cover of Mylène Farmer's "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" and another of Françoise Hardy's "Comment te dire adieu". In 2019, the trumpeter collaborates with his father Steve Houben on the album 7/7 (2020), followed by his second album of songs, La Quarantaine (2021).
