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Niels Lan Doky

Niels Lan Doky is the Knight of Jazz: Telling the stories of the music and his journey to becoming a global icon of the genre.

A generation younger than artists like Keith Jarrett and Pat Metheny, pianist/composer Niels Lan Doky is one of the most acclaimed and prolific jazz artists of his time. He has released over 40 albums, has collaborated with the greatest artists in jazz and has won countless awards and accolades around the world. When he released his debut album in 1986 an American Jazz Journalist wrote: “There is nothing more encouraging and satisfying than to encounter for the first time a young Jazz musician of real stature, someone who can make you feel that the future of the music is in good hands. There can not be the slightest doubt that Doky’s talent is of real significance ‐ that rare thing in the Jazz of our time, an original voice in the great tradition”.

Since then, Niels Lan Doky has had one of the most extensive and unusual careers ever seen in music, which ‐ aside from performing, arranging, composing and producing music ‐ also has included work as a film director, author, venue owner, speaker and more. He was Knighted by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 2010 and has appeared on bestseller lists in Europe and Asia. He has lived in Boston, New York, Paris and London before returning to his hometown of Copenhagen in 2013, where he gave the TEDx Talk “How Jazz Wisdom Will Change Your Life” in 2016. Truly a global cosmopolitan, he has performed for many prominent world figures including Pope Jean Paul II, actor Roger Moore, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, HRH the Prince Henrik of Denmark, and many others. Today, Niels continues to celebrate the past, present and future of Jazz as a musician and as the founder of the Niels Lan Doky International Jazz Collective.

Awards

Knighted by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark for contributions as an ambassador to Danish Culture Internationally. Berklee School of Music: - Oscar Peterson Award Winner - Count Basie Award Winner - Boston Jazz Society Achievement Award Winner

Niels Lan Doky: Return to Denmark

Read "Return to Denmark" reviewed by Chris Mosey

by Chris Mosey
October 21, 2010

The trouble with Niels Lan Doky is that, like Saint Paul, he seeks to be all things to all men. He's a pianist, basically in the Bill Evans tradition when it comes to jazz, but says he's equally at home with classical, world, pop, soul, rhythm and blues and electronic music. He lays claim to being a composer, producer, arranger, writer and film director. Of Danish-Vietnamese origin, he has been a US resident recently--and, on occasion, France. ...

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Music Industry

Niels Lan Doky Jazz Film-Hot Nights In Copenhagen

Source: All About Jazz
September 11, 2004

The pianist Niels Lan Doky conceived, wrote, co-directed and stars in a documentary film about jazz as a universal language.

Mike Zwerin INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE Wednesday, September 08, 2004

PARIS: The pianist Niels Lan Doky - part Vietnamese, part Danish, educated in America, and living in France - conceived, wrote, co-directed and stars in a documentary film, now in post-production, about jazz as a universal language. Although he has accompanied such acts as David Sanborn, Al Jarreau, the ...
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“Niels Lan Doky is the best pianist of his generation. I am stunned by the freshness of his music.” - Sugita Hiroki (Swing Journal, Japan)

“This Danish pianist is one of the most prolific musicians of his generation. Nothing stops his excessive and relentless musical research on levels only accessible to the greatest artists in jazz”. - Plurimedia Spectacles (Paris, France)

“Niels is not gloating about being at the top. He just belongs there.” -Mike Zwerin (International Herald Tribune)

“Fresh and provocative approaches” -John S. Wilson (New York Times)

“A sound all his own. It is difficult not to come away very impressed.” -Scott Yanow (Jazziz)