In 1972 he began collaborating with Joanne Brackeen, working with her through 1986; he also played with Pepper Adams (1983), Slide Hampton (1981), Frank Foster (1984–86), and Roland Hanna (1986).
Clint Houston was born in New Orleans, and spent his early childhood in Washington, D.C. before spending his adolescence in Queens, New York.
Houston began playing in bands outside of high school, with Lenny White, George Cables, Billy Cobham, Steve Grossman and Charles Sullivan, all of whom grew up in the same neighborhood.
At the age of 19, Clint Houston won a Jazz Interactions competition, leading to an encounter with Paul Chambers who encouraged him to pursue his music further.
[4] Houston was a founding member of musical co-operative Free Life Communications, alongside Dave Liebman, becoming more immersed in the loft jazz scene of 1970s New York.
According to journalist Ted Panken:"Stan explained to me quite a few times backstage at Keystone Korner that ‘I have never felt as free and as totally supported as I do with this band with Joanne Brackeen, Clint Houston, and Billy Hart.
Houston favored a combination of the German and Italian-style finger positions[9] in his left hand, teaching this hybrid style to his private students.
[4] His wife Gerry Houston, who died in 2009, worked the door at the Village Vanguard and was known for her 'dry, caustic sense of humor' which was useful for dealing with customers at the club.