HIGHLIGHTS

PERFORMER
Performances at Ronnie Scott's, Wembley Stadium, Bestival, Lords, the National Gallery & jazz festivals across Europe
Five albums of original jazz music as well as contributions to many others as a sideman
• Afro-Peruvian music for the Paris-Dakar Rally held in the middle of the Peruvian desert
• Blues performance in Clarksdale, Mississippi - site of the crossroads of blues legend

COMPOSER
Winner of the 2022 Lilburn Trust composition prize for The View From Above (post-spectralist work for Pierrot ensemble)
• Five albums of original jazz music
Soundscape commission – Earthquake exhibition, Lima, Peru 2013

ARRANGER
String arrangements for Bic Runga's hit albums Drive and Beautiful Collision
Orchestral commission, arrangement of Madness' Our House
Arrangements for official Wellington City millennium celebration 2000
• Arrangements for Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra performed at Symphony Under the Stars 1997
• Arrangements for the musical Te Odio Amor Mío, dir. Alberto Issola, Peru 2012

TEACHER
Mastering the Practice of Music published 2018
• 25 years of experience teaching privately, in schools, conservatories and universities

BIO

View/download bio as pdf here.

BIOGRAPHY

Having studied classical piano and cello (winner of the 1988 national secondary school chamber music competition performing the Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion), Duncan later completed a jazz piano performance degree at Massey University in Wellington. Before leaving Aotearoa on a 20 year musical odyssey he also worked with Bic Runga, writing the string arrangements for the multi-platinum selling albums Drive and Beautiful Collision. His years overseas saw him collaborate with a wide range of top musicians in genres as varied as world music, rock, blues and avant-garde jazz. He has performed multiple times at many famous venues including Ronnie Scotts, Wembley Stadium and Lords in London, and jazz festivals across Europe in Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the legendary Bestival on the Isle of Wight. He then spent some years in Peru where he performed with world-class artists Susana Baca, Eva Ayllon and Andres Prado, as well as founding and directing a youth orchestra. After moving to Paris he established the world music/jazz crossover group Cuarteto Imaginario in 2017. Returning to NZ in late 2020, he has since completed a critically acclaimed South Island tour, founded the Directions in Jazz project to bring improvised music to a wider community and is currently undertaking post-graduate study in contemporary classical composition at NZSM, winning the Lilburn Trust composition prize in 2022.


CRITICS' COMMENTS

A vital first set demonstrated seemingly effortless mastery on the part of Haynes. They weren’t just warmed up, they were on fire! The band received a thoroughly well deserved standing ovation from the audience at the end of the second set, perhaps the first that I can recall this happening at any gig in Dunedin. I genuinely do not think I’ve felt such a buzz around live New Zealand jazz in Dunedin in a very very long time (if at all).
ALEX WOLKEN wolkenwords.wordpress.com

What a fabulous occasion it was. The audience was enthralled from the opening original piece. The success of the evening’s performance was demonstrated by an enthusiastic standing ovation and many requests for a return performance. The Duncan Haynes Trio exceeded all expectations.
CATHERINE BROSNAHAN Fairfield House, Nelson

There is a fleetness of touch in the musicians' performances that makes the music seem to take flight. The result is a mysteriously beautiful composition that I never wanted to end. That Mitchell and Haynes make it sound so easy, so suffused with consummate musicianship is a credit to their promising talent and impeccable taste.
CHRISTIAN CAREY Splendid ezine

The consistently fabulous Leo label continues to unearth creative music form spirits known and often unknown. Intricate ideas, majestic and melodic, melancholy and elegant.
DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY New York

The set concludes on a piece with gospel inflections, a perfect summary of the duo's chemistry and deep understanding. There is no denying its artistry, creativity and understated charm.
FRANCOIS COUTURE AllMusic.com

There's not a dull moment on this dynamically performed, well-crafted set of compositions [by Gerald Clark]. The impressive pianist Duncan Haynes and the young and highly rated rhythm section are fired up and play great.
SELWYN HARRIS Jazzwise, UK


DISCOGRAPHY

Listen and buy here on Bandcamp.

ALBUMS AS LEADER

BIATHANATOS
With Matthew Mitchell (guitar). Recorded in Hódmezővásárhely and Szeged, 2004.
Original compositions and improvisations. 

THE URBAN CHOREOGRAPHIC
With Matthew Mitchell (guitar). Recorded in London, 2006.
Original compositions and improvisations. 

TRIM-TRIMPO
With Gonçalo Almeida (bass) and Luis Candeias (drums). Recorded in Rotterdam, 2007.
Improvisations.

THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY
With Jules Jackson (bass) and Simon Pearson (drums). Recorded in London, 2009.
Original compositions and arrangements of jazz standards in the piano trio tradition.

ANIMA
With Cleia Luna (vocals) and Andrés Prado (guitar). Recorded in Lima, 2013.
Original compositions and arrangements that blend song form, improvisation and latino influences.


KEY ALBUMS AS SIDEMAN

STORMY
Sarah Weller, 2008
Piano

NAKBA
Gerald Clark, 2013
Piano

AFRODELICO
Jorge Pardo, 2014
Piano

DRIVE
Bic Runga, 1999
String arrangements 

TOUCHWOOD
Gitbox Rebellion, 1994
Cello