Michaela (Misha) Steinhauer – vocals, Germany
Alexey Kruglov – saxophones, Moscow/Russia www.alexkruglov.ru
Roman Stolyar – piano, Novosibirsk/Russia rstmusic.narod.ru
The love of musical freedom and storytelling has united these three musicians from different countries and genres to form the German-Russian trio INSIDE OUT. The project was founded in 2012 when “Dialogues in the Dark” Moscow invited Misha and her friends to perform under unique circumstances – in the total darkness.
A concept was born there: connecting songs, whether well known jazz standards or Misha`s originals, through a narrated story and free improvisation and thus merging them into one piece.
The jazz standard program was recorded under the name “Talks around midnight” and published by the Russian label Fancymusic in 2016. It was rated fourth best all Russian jazz release in 2017 by Soyus.ru.
In May 2018 INSIDE OUT went back into the studio to record their second album "Changes & Choices", this time consisting of Mishas originals connected through a story about letting go of old grief and finding inner peace, and free improvisation. It has been released digitally on 15th of January 2021 on all major online platforms. If you are interested in a physical cope, please contact me via this website.
Live versions
What the musicians say about this project
Misha
Talks around midnight are different. They lack the flippant, superficial lightness of daily conversations. The darkness may provide shelter for lovers to hide in, but it also takes away the soothing deception of outer appearance. All senses become alert, emotions deepen, and the void of the unknown, hidden in the blackness of the night, makes you want to connect – with yourself, your memories, and with the people surrounding you. Talks around midnight evolve around the important things in life: love, trust, friendship, betrayal, hate, hurt, forgiveness, and longing. You only share them with friends who understand. This is the core of our project INSIDE OUT and I am thankful to be a part of it.
Roman Stolyar
Three musicians have united to tell the story of a pretty ordinary love. It is a story that many of us have lived through, but everyone has experienced it in a different, special way. Here, “Talks around Midnight“ is an attempt to tell something well known by means of combining old and new tools - known jazz standards and free improvisation, familiar and unfamiliar sounds, with and without words. If you seek what can be called musica humana, or “music of the human being” - this album is for you. Close your eyes. Imagine midnight. Listen.
Roman Stolyar rstmusic.narod.ru
Alexei Kruglov
Inside Out is one of my favorite projects! Our trio was founded when Dialogue in the Dark Moscow invited us to play several concerts in the total darkness. The process of playing in a space not restricted by the limitations of eyesight offered me new psychophysical and creative insights. On the one hand the musicians and the audience immersed in the substance of the sound as if it was a physical object. It thus had to be treated gently and even reverently - modifying the visual components of the music. On the other hand, a particularly sensitive attitude to performing improvisational ideas and solutions evolved within the trio and it reached far beyond the sensations of sound-shades and intonations. At the same time we reverently felt that the boundaries of the scene and the audience were erased and all participants of the action formed a coherent whole.
In the CD you can hear the music we played during the concerts. Although we were recording in the light of the day, the mood, colors, images that have arisen during the performances in the total darkness are harmoniously displayed in this precious album.
Alexey Kruglov www.alexkruglov.ru