Sarah Hanahan Meets Joan Fort Quartet at DAI, Heidelberg

Sarah Hanahan, Joan Fort, Philip Lewin and Frederik Villmow
Jazzclub at the DAI
Heidelberg, Germany
February 14, 2026

Two incongruent events busied media outlets in Germany on February 14. In the morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio grabbed headlines with a speech outlining the US government's plans to upend the geopolitical order. It was also Valentine's Day. With love in the air and international relations kaputt, patrons packed every seat in the DAI for a hot-and-heavy evening of transatlantic jazz.

Much of that heat emanated from American alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, whose burning affection for blistering bebop frequently threatened to melt her microphone. She was joined by Spanish guitarist Joan Fort and German bassist Philip Lewin, who both live in Amsterdam, as well as Oslo-based German drummer Frederik Villmow. Such a cosmopolitan group was a neat fit for the German-American Institute (DAI), a cultural institution that aims to foster transnational interactions.

Like many municipal buildings, the DAI's home is warmed by ancient-but-eager radiators that generate a catch-in-your-throat aroma of charred dust in the winter months. Hanahan came out blazing, too. The set's punchy opening number, "Bird Lives"by Jackie McLean showcased her eerie capacity to pull Charlie Parker's voice and phrasing out of her horn. During solos by Lewin and Villmow, she whooped and cajoled her bandmates to dig deeper, push harder and fly higher.

Later, the multinational musickers offered a faithful rendition of Parker's "My Little Suede Shoes." It was cooler, gentler piece with a gliding quality. Fort delivered a patient solo via his O-mouthed, ellipsoid guitar sound. Hanahan's turn in the spotlight displayed her un-Bird-like properties: Gravely growled notes and squealing altissimo. A false finish led to a sped-up repetition of the melody.

Valentine's Day is never complete without moments of flirtation and melancholy. A trio rendition of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady," with the group's female frontperson absent from the stage, evoked the former. Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" provided a shift in mood. Fort kicked things off with a lone-playing passage before brushes swept the drumskins and Lewin's bass nudged the music forward. Hanahan softened her sound and added sad, short-of-breath vibrato to longer tones.

Those two narrow-eyed tunes were exceptions to the prevailing mood. It was a concert of bouncy and boppy music that raced like a heart freshly struck by Cupid's arrow. The final song, "We Bop" from Hanahan's 2024 album Among Giants (Blue Engine Records), encapsulated the show's overarching spirit. The microphone above Villmow's toms leaned and careened in the bubbling stream of his percussion. From center stage, Hanahan hollered for the drummer to play faster, faster, faster. And he did.

With skill beyond their tender years, these four star-crossed bebop lovers married their roaring passion for the past with their devotion to the present. Their excellent night's work was elevated by precisely the type of across-the-pond comradeship that Mr. Rubio and his colleagues are striving to denigrate, disrupt or DOGE out of existence. On this chilly night in romantic Heidelberg, love won.

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