Niels Lan Doky is a Danish jazz pianist, composer and producer, born on 3 October 1963 in Copenhagen to a Danish mother and a Vietnamese father. He turned professional at 13 and broke through internationally with his 1986 debut album, going on to perform alongside Joe Henderson, Jack DeJohnette, Ray Brown and Pat Metheny at New York's top jazz venues. In 2010 Queen Margrethe II knighted him for his cultural contributions - making him the first Danish jazz musician since Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen to achieve wide international acclaim.
Niels Lan Doky released his most ambitious album to date, 'New Visions For A New World', on August 22, 2025 on his own label Inner Adventures - a project five years in the making with contributors such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Mike Stern and Lenny White.
The album 'New Visions For A New World' was recorded over several years in Paris, Copenhagen and New York and brings together an international ensemble of musicians around new compositions and reinterpretations of classics.
Niels Lan Doky released the album 'Modern Standards' with, among others, bassist Darryl Jones from The Rolling Stones and received praise in the Spanish press.
Niels Lan Doky gave the TEDx talk 'How Jazz Wisdom Will Change Your Life' in Copenhagen, after he returned to his hometown in 2013.
Queen Margrethe II appointed Niels Lan Doky a knight for his cultural contributions.
