Someone You Should Know: Jazz Guitarist Priest
CHICAGO (CBS) – He's a Catholic priest who finds spiritual fulfillment and strength by playing jazz guitar.
Father John Moulder is someone you should know, CBS 2's Harry Porterfield reports.
Moulder, an arch chaplain for the Chicago Archdiocese, is a world-class jazz musician.
"It's one of the truly life-giving aspects in my life," he says. "It has been a great comfort many times. … After I've been composing for a while, I feel just filled with life and I feel that's a grace, that somehow the spirit is very much involved in that."
Moulder demonstrated his considerable skill in the sanctuary of St. Gregory the Great on Chicago's North Side. But those visiting the Green Mill in the Uptown area may also see him there.
He has created a jazz festival with musicians and club owners donating their services and facilities to raise money for people suffering from hunger. It starts March 7 and is called the Chi Town Jazz Festival.
Some may consider jazz to be sacrilegious, but Moulder thinks it has redeeming virtues.
"I go back to that quote by Louie Armstrong who said, 'What we play is life,'" Moulder says. "So, jazz does have sensual to the spiritual and the transcendent. So, it all finds a place in jazz."
The Chi Town Jazz Festival runs through March 11. Click here for more information.
