If there’s one thing Raggy Waltz enjoys more than anything, it’s starting a series. If there’s one thing that Raggy Waltz enjoys more than starting series, it’s abandoning a series soon after it began. In a remarkable example of both, a series was developed and thought up, but then just as I began to really get into the planning stages of that series, I thought up of another equally fun series. “Why not do both?” I asked myself. Back to the planning board I went, furiously developing both ideas into a string of blog posts.

And then, a recent conversation with some jazz record collecting buddies of mine caused me to think of yet another topic that warranted its own series as well.

The conversation was wide-ranging, but it briefly landed on the topic of jazz albums considered to be ‘grail’ status. As talk of rare/expensive Blue Note and Prestige records swirled, I began to wonder what a grail even meant. From this thought came another thought: what are my personal grails? That is, what are some of the records I’ve come across that were highly sought after, rare, and deeply gratifying to find and add to my collection?

With this question in mind, I began going through my records in search for my personal grails. It’s certainly personal, but it’ll be fun. When you see some of the albums profiled here, don’t judge me! As for the other two series I mentioned earlier, I’ll reveal them when I actually write about those albums. Here’s to starting three series simultaneously!