Jazz Priest: The Hip Times of Fr. Norman O’Connor is a documentary film about a man of faith whose large impact on the world of Jazz and the church is a unique opportunity to explore two seemingly different realities. But in the 1950s and 60s the worlds of Jazz and the Catholic Church had very little overlap—many believed that they had no business with each other. Fr. Norman O’Connor believed differently and he spent decades trying to bridge that gap.
He writes a weekly jazz column for the Boston Globe and other music magazines. He hosts a popular radio show. He develops seminars for Boston University. Most importantly, he becomes a trusted counselor to many of the musicians who regularly appear at the legendary Jazz club Storyville: Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, and Louie Armstrong to name a few. He helped found the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, causing more than a few attendees to turn their heads as he emcees the event wearing his full clerics.
Yet religious detractors of jazz gain credibility when beer-fueled riots jeopardize the Newport Festivals and Fr. Norman’s friend, Billie Holiday, dies from drug abuse. As he becomes more entwined with the jazz world, Fr. Norman’s religious superiors don’t know what to do with him. It is not until he is unwillingly transferred and he sees first-hand the larger ravages of drug abuse in the factory town of Paterson, NJ that Fr. Norman's ministry gains a new focus… and a new impact.
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