Shortly after finishing high school in 1981, Lan Doky followed the advice of Thad Jones and moved to the USA where he (after first studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston) went on to establish himself in New York performing with the elite of the American jazz scene (Joe Henderson, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, Ray Brown, Randy and Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, Al Foster, Billy Hart, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Bill Evans, Bob Berg, Tom Harrell, Ray Drummond, Al Jarreau, Charlie Haden, Gino Vannelli, etc.) in addition to leading groups under his own name in New York jazz clubs such as the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note and Sweet Basil. In recent years, Lan Doky has been based out of Paris - which by many is considered to be the jazz centre of Europe today. But he currently spends most of his time in Copenhagen, where he has co-founded two very high-profile jazz clubs, most recently The Standard in Copenhagen (2013) and before that the re-opening of Jazzhus Montmartre (2010).