Biography of Duncan Haynes

Hand-raised in New Zealand and now resident in the UK, Duncan studied classical music as a child, playing piano, cello and trombone. Early highlights include winning a national competition performing the Bartok Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion.

Having eventually emerged with a degree in jazz piano Duncan teamed up with fellow ex-pat Kiwi guitarist Matthew Mitchell to make music which drew together his love of jazz and free improv with elements of contemporary classical music. The result was two duo albums on Leo Records: biathanatos (2004) and The Urban Choreographic (2006).

In 2007 Duncan met Luis Candeias (d) and Goncalo Almeida (b) in Portugal and Trim-Trimpo was born. A free piano trio exploring possibilities of sound and dynamics through various conceptual approaches, they went into the studio in Rotterdam to make their eponymous debut - very shortly to be released on Lisbon's Creative Sources label.

Spring 2009 sees Duncan recording an album of originals “Journeys”, which draws on the sounds of the greats of European jazz piano such as John Taylor, Martial Solal and Enrico Pieranunzi (amongst a very long list). This group, named the Mistral Trio, features Tim Robertson (b) and Jon Scott (d).