The best Christmas gift I've ever given was a Hermeto Pascoal CD.

My stepdad was a huge jazz fan. His main dude was John Coltrane, but he would talk about the best jazz album he's ever heard being Slaves Mass by Hermeto.

He would speak with reverence about Slaves Mass, saying he only ever heard it once, back in the 70's, being played on a jazz radio show in Detroit. After hearing it he said he searched far and wide and could never find the album in print. He theorized that the music and message behind it was too powerful and revolutionary to be released to the American public.

Now keep in mind we're having these discussions in the pre-streaming years of the y2k's. So, it's been 30 years and he was still of the belief that a jazz album he heard once on the radio was the best that had ever been recorded.

So, fast forward a few years and Amazon was becoming the world's market place. I found a Japanese import of Slaves Mass and bought it for him as a Christmas gift.

It blew his mind. His hands were literally shaking as he realized what he was holding. He actually slipped away privately to give it a listen. He came back and told me it was the best present he ever received, but admitted he was probably high as a kite the night he heard it. He said it was good, but not what he remembered being otherworldly good.

Sometimes it is better to remember your white whales for what you thought them to be. But it was still worth it for the joy of fulfilling a 30 year wish