TBC introduces… Donovan Haffner

First off, huge congratulations on winning Best Newcomer at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. How did it feel hearing your name announced on the night?

It was amazing. I was not expecting to win, so it was a really nice surprise. My speech wasn't great, but I really wasn’t expecting to have to accept the award.  

You grew up in South East London and started with piano, before discovering your love for the alto sax at just eleven years old. Can you take us back to that moment?

I have a musical family, and my mum is a music teacher. I have a brother and a sister, and my mum used to teach all of us instruments. We all used to play a recorder, but I thought, “Nah, this is a bit lame.” My mum's really a piano teacher, and at the age of seven, she began to teach me piano. Then I picked up the guitar, but something was still missing.

At my secondary school, there was a school band. I saw one of their shows, and someone was playing the saxophone. I thought it was really cool. I thought to myself, “I want to play the sax.” My mum bought me a saxophone and a few lessons, and here I am now. 

There are several different types of saxophone - what drew you specifically to the alto?  

I guess because it's the one I've played for the most amount of time. Over the years, I kind of see music in the alto range, I guess. It's more of a range thing for me. But I really love it when players get a nice tone of alto. There's just something about it that speaks to me. 

Who are your favourite alto players, the ones you really draw your influences from?  

Kenny Garrett, Cannonball, Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, Emmanuel Wilkins, Martin Walden, Tim Green, it goes on and on. 

Tomorrow’s Warriors clearly played a huge part in your journey. What do you think makes that community so special, and how has it shaped you - not just as a musician, but as a person? 

I first heard about Tomorrow's Warriors when I was doing my saxophone grade one. My mum was actually sitting next to someone in the waiting room who recommended Tomorrow's Warriors to her. I applied and got in, and I joined when I was ten or eleven years old. They do weekly sessions every weekend, so I started attending their classes.  

The Warriors have done so much for me, developing my skills and taking me on the Warriors Rise tours. They have given so many people great opportunities to play in places. They are such a broad organisation in such a broad community of people. It's really great to be associated with them.  

Do you turn to them when you're thinking of assembling a band or recording your own music?  

I met Moses Boyd through Tomorrow's Warriors. I remember being on a train, and I got a call from an unknown number. It was Moses asking me if I was available to come with him to play in Italy. I think it was actually on my eighteenth birthday, or the day after. I will never forget that day; it was amazing. 

How would you describe your musical identity today?

My music is really influenced by New York-style contemporary jazz. It's coming from the Miles Davis sort of trajectory, with a lot of swinging straight-ahead influences as well.  

If you were playing saxophone on stage and could look to your left and see an artist playing alongside you, who would it be?  

Maybe Bird, especially if Bird was living now and he'd lived through all these years. It would be interesting as he would also be influenced by others.  

What can we expect from your show at The Bear?

We have Francisco Garcia de Paredes on guitar, Jay Verma on piano, Harry Pierce on bass, Luke McCarthy on drums, and, of course, me on alto.   

The majority of the set will be from my latest album, Alleviate, which I released earlier this year. There’ll be a few other tunes that I've written, and a couple of new tracks too. I’m really excited about coming back to the club.  

And finally, what’s next - any new music, projects, or dreams you’re chasing for 2026? 

Really just continuing the journey, practising, writing new music, just getting my name out there, doing more playing outside of London to grow my audience. Perhaps playing again in Europe and beyond. That'll be amazing. 

Donovan joins us with his quintet on Saturday 15 November 2025