Kings Place and Folded Wing present alto saxophonist Donovan Haffner and drummer Jas Kayser. Celebrating 20 years of Folded Wing – the pioneering audio production company connecting cultures, creatives and audiences through jazz – this special one-off showcases two artists at the beating heart of the London jazz scene.

Folded Wing has been putting on events and championing artists since its beginnings, creating platforms where heritage meets new talent. It feels fitting that its 20th anniversary celebrations begin on stage.

This September, Folded Wing presents two of the most exciting names in new British jazz in partnership with Kings Place: Donovan Haffner, Jazz FM’s 2026 Breakthrough Act of the Year and an alumnus of Tomorrow’s Warriors, which is also marking its 35th anniversary this year, and drummer, composer and bandleader Jas Kayser, Jazz FM’s 2021 Breakthrough Act of the Year, with special guests to be announced. Twenty years in, they’re just getting started.

This event will be recorded for future Folded Wing productions.

This event will last for approximately 2 hours, with an interval.

About Donovan Haffner

Donovan Haffner, winner of the Breakthrough Act of the Year category at the Jazz FM Awards 2026 and the Jazz Newcomer category at the Jazz Parliamentary Awards 2025, is a south-east London-born alto saxophonist.

At the age of 11, Donovan joined the highly respected Tomorrow’s Warriors Young Artist Development Programme, where he was mentored by Gary Crosby OBE, Binker Golding and Alex Davis. He quickly proved himself a standout talent and, by the age of 18, was invited to tour Italy with multi-award-winning drummer Moses Boyd.

Since then, Donovan has studied for an undergraduate degree in Jazz Performance at the Royal Academy of Music. He has performed with Jay Phelps, Charlie Stacey and Balimaya, as well as Danish pianist and composer Rasmus Sørensen and Joshua Redman’s pianist Paul Cornish as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. He was also selected by Tony Kofi to join American jazz legend Charles Tolliver’s Big Band, performing at the Barbican as part of the London Jazz Festival. Donovan remains an active member of the Tomorrow’s Warriors musical family, performing with both the Nu Civilisation Orchestra and Jazz Jamaica.

About Jas Kayser

Jas Kayser is at the heart of a new generation of drummers. From her formative years at Berklee College of Music under the mentorship of Terri Lyne Carrington, Ralph Peterson and Danilo Pérez, to leading her own band, Jas Kayser & Chums, and touring globally with Lenny Kravitz over the past two and a half years, she has emerged as a dynamic, powerful and genre-shifting force in contemporary music.

As a solo artist, Jas has steadily built a catalogue that reflects her expansive musical world. Her debut EP, Unforced Rhythm of Grace, introduced audiences to her distinctive compositional voice, followed by Jas 5ive in 2022. Her releases have received strong support across UK radio, championed by Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2), Julian Joseph (BBC Radio 3), Mary Anne Hobbs (BBC Radio 6 Music), as well as Jazz FM and Jazzwise magazine. With new music scheduled for release in 2026, Jas continues to push her sound forward, blending jazz foundations with contemporary rhythm, melody and groove.

Kayser’s work has been recognised with numerous accolades. She won Jazz FM’s Breakthrough Act and the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Newcomer in 2021, was nominated for MOBO Best Jazz Act in 2022, and in 2024 received nominations for a Composer’s Award and Modern Drummer‘s Up & Coming Drummer poll. These honours reflect not only her technical mastery, but also her growing impact as a composer and bandleader. Alongside her work with Kravitz, Jas has performed with artists including Jorja Smith, Alfa Mist and many of the UK’s most forward-thinking jazz and crossover musicians. Whether as a collaborator or bandleader, her playing is defined by feel, intent and an ability to elevate every musical setting she enters.

Following her studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Jas spent significant time in Panama, immersing herself in its culture and musical traditions. This period proved formative, deepening her sense of musical responsibility, community, and the importance of mentorship and giving back. Whether commanding arenas on a world tour or leading her own projects, Jas Kayser represents a new generation of artists who embody what it means to be a contemporary jazz musician: technically fearless, stylistically open, and grounded in purpose as much as performance.

About Folded Wing

What started in a flat in 2006 with a record collection and a lot of passion has become the UK’s biggest independent jazz content producer – and twenty years on, Folded Wing is still independent, still ambitious, and still proving that specialist music matters. What has always made Folded Wing different isn’t the awards. It’s the people. A small, passionate team who live and breathe music, who have nurtured talent on and off the mic for two decades, and who believe specialist music deserves the biggest possible audiences.

From producing The Jazz Show with Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio for 16 years to launching the BBC’s first daily jazz show; from bringing hip hop to Radio 2 to setting up radio stations, creating sound installations, pioneering podcasts and live events, and training the next generation – the thread has always been the same: care about the music, care about the people, and never be afraid to do things differently.

Reviews

‘South London’s Donovan Haffner has got off to a flying start – released an album, played with everyone on the UK jazz scene and garnered plaudits and prizes.’ Jazzwise

‘All highly regarded young members of the new jazz scene.’ Duarte Figueira, UK Jazz News