past is present 3: Julia Hülsmann Trio & Roger Cicero

past is present | Julia Hülsmann Trio & Roger Cicero

A curated ACT Music vinyl series in which the past becomes the present. Timeless recordings that don't just live on, they continue to speak in the now.

• Milestone albums on vinyl for the first time
• Limited to 1,000 copies, each hand-numbered
• Remastered for vinyl
• High-quality 180g pressing, black vinyl, lacquer cut
• Liner notes written exclusively for this edition
• Includes a collector's obi-strip on premium art paper 
• Individually designed labels inspired by the original artwork
• A designed inner sleeve as a narrative cornerstone of the album printed on 180 gsm uncoated sulfate board

past is present is ACT's curated deep dive into the label's rich catalogue, bringing outstanding recordings back into focus on premium vinyl. These are albums whose relevance has not faded – they still speak with clarity and emotional force today. Selected as part of ACT's musical heritage, each title appears either for the first time on vinyl or in a newly remastered edition, reaching the highest possible fidelity while honouring the original artistic vision. 

Every release is conceived as a limited, hand-numbered collector's edition, made for listeners who value both the sound and the object. The original cover artwork is preserved and elevated through refined production: a bespoke collector’s obi strip, newly commissioned liner notes, custom-designed labels and an individually designed inner sleeve – each part of a cohesive series identity and a premium vinyl experience. 

Good Morning Midnight (2006) closes Julia Hülsmann's ACT trilogy exploring poetry and jazz – after E. E. Cummings and Randy Newman, this time dedicated to Emily Dickinson, largely unknown in her lifetime and today regarded as one of America's most important poets. For the then little-known pianist, the series marked her step into wider public awareness and the beginning of a highly acclaimed international career. For vocalist Roger Cicero it was an important step into the limelight – soon after, he became a genuine pop star in Germany, before his one-of-a-kind story ended abruptly in 2016, at just 45. 

The contrasts could hardly be greater: urban-influenced jazz on one side, on the other the words of a poet who spent her life in seclusion in rural Massachusetts. Yet jazz works here less as a style than as a vocabulary, linking seemingly distant worlds. Carried by Hülsmann's trio with Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling, coloured by subtle electronics, bandoneon and brass, Cicero finds a tone between curiosity and doubt, exuberance and introspection – “I've never sung anything like this before.” A wide arc between poetry and jazz, between the 19th and the 21st centuries – and a reminder that new music can be found not only in the present, but also in the past.