Tomorrow's Warriors + 1 ft. Donovan Haffner

Tomorrow’s Warriors presents Donovan Haffner and his quintet for this special performance at Foyles.

Alto saxophonist, Donovan Haffner could almost be described as one of the best kept secrets on the London jazz scene for the last 3 or 4 years, but all that is set to change with the release of his debut album, Alleviate.

Part of Tomorrow’s Warriors Emerging Artist Programme Donovan has been mentored by Gary Crosby OBE, Binker Golding, and Alex Davis.

He has toured Italy with multi-award-winning drummer Moses Boyd and played with Jay Phelps, Charlie Stacey, and Balimaya. He has also performed with the Danish jazz pianist/composer Rasmus Sorenson and was selected by Tony Kofi to be part of American jazz legend Charles Tolliver’s Big Band, headlining at the Barbican as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. And Donovan is still very much part of the Tomorrow’s Warriors musical family, performing with both Nu Civilisation Orchestra and Jazz Jamaica.

If you have already been lucky enough to catch Donovan lead his own line-up in a venue (including London’s Ronnie Scott’s, The Jazz Café, and Pizza Express Live) or at a festival (We Out Here, Love Supreme), then you will have been struck not just by the drive and sophistication of his playing, but also how he interprets his own compositions. He takes audiences on a journey through the music he loves, straight ahead and contemporary jazz – drawing on the inspiration of the musicians that have influenced him, including Kenny Garrett, Freddie Hubbard, Immanuel Wilkins, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, and Walter Smith III – but enhanced with his own distinctive compositional style.

Recorded with his quintet, Donovan’s debut album Alleviate is a vitally exciting contemporary jazz recording, that will undoubtedly position this young musician as a rising jazz star and one of 2025’s breakthrough artists.

For over 30 years, Tomorrow’s Warriors has played a vital role within its community and the wider music industry and has been credited with literally changing the face of UK jazz.

Free access to Tomorrow’s Warriors artistic programme has proved crucial in nurturing the nascent talent and early careers of so many of the most exciting UK artists currently tearing up the international jazz scene including Mercury Prize 2023 winners Ezra Collective, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings and Sons of Kemet, ESKA, Jason Yarde, Denys Baptiste, Robert Mitchell, Soweto Kinch, Shirley Tetteh, Byron Wallen...the list goes on.

A Black-founded and Black-led organisation, Tomorrow’s Warriors is based at Southbank Centre in London and offers a pioneering, comprehensive programme of learning and training which champions and supports young Black and female talent and those who come from challenging circumstances that would be a barrier to accessing opportunities to pursue a music career.

Doors will open from 6:30pm.