Stéphane Mercier was born in Brussels in 1970. His father was a host-producer on national radio and television, as well as a writer, author, poet and columnist. He gave him a taste for the stage and recording studios, which he visited regularly. Stéphane also had access to all kinds of albums and concert tickets via the press office. His mother was a passionate housewife who took him from one music class to the next. It was in her womb that he first heard saxophonist Jackie McLean, as one of his pieces was used as the theme tune for a program for which his father was assistant to one of Belgium's jazz pioneers: double bassist Benoît Quersin.

With show business omnipresent and his family, but also at school, church, youth movements and the municipal brass band (Harmonie Royale de Braine-l'Alleud, under the direction of the great oboist Jean-Marie Quenon), music was an integral part of his daily life. He played the family piano (on which he heard his mother play Bach, played the scores available, then spent hours composing), classical percussion (he even played the Marriage of Figaro on timpani under the direction of the great René Defossez), singing and rock drums (with his older brother, over 50 concerts!), but finally decided to devote himself to the saxophone.

His teacher Philippe Leblanc took him under his wing for six years. His teacher came from the eminent school of François Daneels, the founder of the Belgian saxophone school (a blend between the French school of Marcel Mule and the American school- characterized by quality of sound, rhythmic rigor, observation of nuances, and respect for the text of the pieces studied). On several occasions, Mr Leblanc took little Stéphane to the home of the retired Maître Daneels, to fine-tune his education. He entered him in several competitions, including the televised Jeunes Solistes. He also placed him as a young teacher in one or other of the region's schools.

His maternal grandfather, a former music critic and keen photographer, invited him to his first jazz concert in 1984. Stéphane was very intrigued, and told his teacher all about it. Nevertheless, the headmistress of the municipal music school forbade jazz on its premises, and it was under the jacket that he obtained his first jazz treasures: the Omnibook (transcriptions of Charlie Parker) and the Real Book (repertoire of the great standards). Philippe Leblanc gave him invaluable advice and made him a list: “You want to play jazz? Listen to the old masters first!”. The exhaustive list included names like Sydney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. It was in his teenage bedroom, on one of the first Philips tube stereo amplifiers, that he first tingled as he listened to John Coltrane, Paul Desmond and Pat Metheny.

As he listened, he realized that while jazz brings neither money nor fame, the motivation must lie in the passion itself, and can take a lifetime to develop. It was then that he decided to devote his life to it.

He spent his teenage years on a minister's timetable, studying on public transport, which took him to schools, rehearsal rooms and concerts, where he played or listened to music (often alone, as none of his friends were interested in jazz). He did ask his parents if it was possible to leave high school in favour of an artistic one, but being in a prestigious college without failing, his father advised him to complete a traditional education. Stéphane chose the ‘expressive arts’ option in secondary school. These general and all-round courses gave him a foundation that would enable him to adapt to many future situations.

Little by little, he stopped the activities that diverted him from music: youth movements, theatre, sailing, etc.

After high school, he attended the Antwerp Jazz Studio for two years (with John Ruocco and Frank Vaganée). At the same time, he found work as a student: sound engineer's assistant in Dan Lacksman's studio; office work at IBM (where he realized that his life would be different); TV playbacks for variety singers (where he realized that he would go into jazz at all costs)...

In 1990, Stéphane was accepted at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles (in Steve Houben's class). It was also the year of his mother's death. The inheritance enabled him to fly to the United States in 1992. He studied at Berklee College of Music (Boston). Upon his arrival, he won the position of lead alto in the famous Herb Pomeroy's big band, following an audition of all the College's saxophonists. Mr. Pomeroy is known to have played with Charlie Parker and Benny Golson, and was close to Duke Ellington. A great admirer of Johnny Hodges, he had a major influence on Stéphane: he taught him to develop a personal sound, while managing to blend in with the wind section: a very special challenge.

His other teachers were George Garzone (avant-garde), Bill Pierce (traditional), Joe Viola (sound specialist), Hal Crook (improvisation), Ed Tomassi (developing one’s personal method) and Andy McGhee, who gave him the telephone number of his idol Jackie McLean...

With his own group formed at Berklee, he recorded his first album with the help of producer Dan Lacksman (B.Connection “ Don't Butt In Line ”). They won the Downbeat award for best student band. In Boston, he made enough contacts to intensively tour in the year following his graduation (1995). He moved from band to band (from jazz quartet to large contemporary ensemble, even African-American hip hop) without a fixed address before settling in New York, at the end of a tour in which he played for a few weeks with the greatest tenor of the moment: Mark Turner.

He obtained a journalist's visa, after convincing the cultural department of the Belgian ministry that he will follow up events in New York, and a series of interviews (Guillermo Klein, Mark Turner, Myron Walden, etc.).

During one of his interviews, he gave a demo tape to French arranger Magali Souriau, Nadia Boulanger's last pupil and winner of the Thelonious Monk Award. She recognized his lead alto tone, already heard with Herb Pomeroy, and asked him to join her big band, part of the most active New York jazz scene of the moment. The band included Chris Cheek, Jeff Ballard, Aaron Goldberg, Miguel Zenon, Dennis Irwin, etc. This big band recorded at Birdland (Magali Souriau “ Birdland Sessions ”), followed by concerts at Jazz Standard, another Manhattan club. Here he met such luminaries as Tommy Flanagan, Leon Parker, Ernie Watts, Jim Hall, etc.

Stéphane organized a European tour with his sextet, including tenor Seamus Blake and Mauritian trumpeter Philippe Thomas. This led to an album on the Fresh Sound label (Flor de Luna), discoverer of talents such as Brad Mehldau and Kurt Rosenwinkel.

New York offered him a wide range of experiences and crucial moments (in addition to jazz, Latin, African and funk music, and Jewish weddings to pay the bills). Numerous groups were formed with talents such as Matt Penman, Avishai Cohen, Darren Beckett, Ben Zwerin, Ada Rovatti and her husband Randy Brecker, etc...

His friendship with Toots Thielemans led to unforgettable encounters with George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Billy Hart, Kenny Werner,...

On September 11, 2001, Stéphane watched the Twin Towers fall from his apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He decided to leave the United States and moved to Paris. His stay there lasted two years, and gave him the opportunity to discover the European scene of the moment.

He returned to Belgium and started a family: his first marriage produced two sons, Maël and Matis, whom he raised alone for five years.

He was offered the position of first alto seat in a new group: the Jazz Station Big Band, which he took over a few years later.

Based once again in Brussels, his career continued to progress: he played with the whole Belgian scene (Philip Catherine, Eric Legnini, David Linx,...), and created new international collaborations (Grégoire Maret, Jason Rebello, Emil Viklicky, Benny Benack III, George Colligan,...).

2014 is a pivotal year, as was celebrated the 200th birthday of Adolphe Sax, Belgian inventor of the saxophone. The government sent him around the world as an ambassador for the saxophone (USA, Qatar, Hungary, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, etc.), while other tours take him to Brazil or Italy, 280 performances of the show on the history of jazz were staged in Belgium with his father as the narrator. It was during one of these performances that Stéphane met Emilie. Their union gave birth to Noé in 2016.

After these two years of playing daily, he left teaching, which gave him newfound freedom.

His curiosity led him to follow the advice of a producer who helped him interview giants such as Quincy Jones, Kenny Garrett, Ivan Lins,…

At the same time, Stéphane regularly found himself as the official soloist at events such as the Nato Summit in Brussels, the World Fair in Dubai and the King of the Belgians Annual Ball.

His collaboration with the great producer Jean Kluger has led to a variety of original projects: Churchify, Calling Paul Desmond and a series of covers of French songwriters (Jass).

A recent guest at the Dinant Festival (Adolphe Sax's hometown), he played there with current stars: Chris Potter, Stefano Di Battista, Sophie Alour, Lionel Belmondo, Hamilton de Hollanda, Lizz Wright, etc...

Stéphane has also written a book on the history of jazz (Une Autre Histoire du Jazz, ed. Jourdan) and set up his own record label: Step By Records.

The Jazz Station Big Band continues its monthly performance in Brussels, and the various groups play and tour internationally (Dave Redmond Quartet, Quantum Stereo, BZ Sounds, Christian Brenner, the Stéphane Mercier Quartet and Trio, as well as a new duo with his son Maël Idris on piano.