SabinaHank.Hank.

Working with Sabina Hank was a collaboration built over time — from planning the recordings and discussing the songs to vocal sessions, band recordings and the final mixes. Across two albums, the music moved between the intimacy of a singer-songwriter record, the openness of jazz and the directness of pop.

The sessions included band recordings at Schloss Weinberg in Upper Austria. Recording musicians playing together, then shaping those performances in the mix, was an especially rewarding part of the work.

Released by EmArcy / Universal Music in 2007, Nah an mir brought Sabina’s songwriting into German. Voice and piano anchor an album that bridges jazz and the song form, leaving room for both musical detail and emotional immediacy.

Michael’s contribution: recording and mixing.

Released on Sabina’s own meander records label in 2009, Focus on Infinity opens into a more soul- and pop-inflected band sound. Fender Rhodes, guitar, bass and drums give the songs a different energy while keeping the voice and the stories close.

Sabina Hank — vocals, piano & Fender Rhodes; Tom Reif — guitar; Alex Meik — bass & backing vocals; Christian Lettner — drums. Produced by Sabina Hank & band; recorded and mixed by Michael Dörfler.

The album was nominated for the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in 2010, in the Jazz / World / Blues category.