It was first produced by the Living Theatre, directed by Living Theatre co-founder Judith Malina, designed by co-founder Julian Beck, and featured music by jazz pianist Freddie Redd.
The play has a play-within-a-play format, with characters Jim Dunn as the "producer" and Jaybird as the "writer" attempting to stage a production about the underbelly of society using "real" addicts.
They all (except for the "producer", "writer", and two "photographers") have one thing in common: they are waiting for their drug dealer, their "connection".
He later recorded several pieces from this production for his Blue Note release Dexter Calling... (1961).
Quote (from the liner notes to the Blue Note album): "Soul Sister," the original that launches the first side is one of the themes Dexter wrote for the score of the Hollywood version of The Connection in which he had an acting, playing, and writing role; it is the equivalent of Freddie Redd's "(Theme for) Sister Salvation"... "I Want More", the significantly titled Gordon theme that closes the first side, is the West Coast equivalent of "O.D.