Donovan Haffner Quintet

Event Information

Donovan Haffner - Alto Sax
Francisco Garcia de Paredes  - Guitar
Jay Verma - Piano
Harry Pearce - Bass
Harry Ling - Drums

22 year old Donovan Haffner is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, undertaking a BMus degree, specialising in Jazz. Donovan has played with a multitude of professional musicians including the big contemporary British names such as Moses Boyd, Charlie Stacey, and Jay Phelps, and European contemporary names such as Rasmus Sorenson. Gary Crosby OBE, Alex Davis and Binker Golding of Tomorrow’s Warriors were amongst some of his mentors in his earlier years. Donovan’s musicianship has already seen him play London jazz gigs at Ronnie Scott’s, The Jazz Café, The Vortex and Pizza Express Soho and Holborn as well as appearing at festivals including, EFG London Jazz Festival, Pitchfork Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, and We Out Here Festival.


His quintet features band members Donovan Haffner (Alto Sax), Francisco Garcia de Paredes (Guitar), Jay Verma (Piano), Harry Pearce (Bass) and Harry Ling (Drums). The band plays originals written by Donovan, and are inspired by his emotions that were present during the time of writing his tunes.'



Francisco Garcia de Paredes is a Jazz guitarist and composer from North London and a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Since graduating he has shared the stage with renowned musicians like Gareth Lockrane, Rachael Cohen, Jay Phelps, and recently, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra alongside Bob Mintzer.

Francisco is also a graduate of the Tomorrow’s Warriors jazz program, where he honed his craft under the guidance of mentors such as Binker Golding, Nathaniel Facey, and Gary Crosby, alongside fellow warriors like Harry Ling, Donovan Haffner, Maddy Coombs, and many others..

Pianist Jay Verna was awarded a scholarship to study at London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2017. He was also a semi-finalist on BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year. He played at the East Side as part of the Grifton Forbes-Amos band

London based drummer & producer Harry Ling brings together an exclusive one-off line-up, showcasing music from his solo Mackwood project, Standard material and beyond.  Maintaining a busy schedule as a drummer and producer for the likes of Col3trane and ELIZA, Harry Ling a.k.a Mackwood has also featured alongside premier jazz musicians from projects like Kokoroko, Yussef Dayes and Louis Cole.

Having received a degree in Jazz from the Guildhall School of Music, bassist Harry Pearce cut his teeth on the London music scene as a double-bassist in his formative years as a performing professional