Boomtown Chicago, 1920s --- a world of gangsters, musicians and clubs. Young Benny Lehrman, born into a Jewish hat-making family, is expected to take over his father’s business, but his true passion is piano --- especially jazz. After dark, he sneaks down to the South Side to hear the bands play.

One night he is asked to sit in with a group. His playing is first-rate. The trumpeter, a black man named Napoleon, becomes Benny’s friend and musical collaborator. A saloon owner, Pearl Chimbrova, hires the duo to play at her saloon, which Napoleon christens The Jazz Palace. But Napoleon’s main gig is at a mob establishment, which doesn’t take kindly to their musicians freelancing...As Benny, Napoleon and Pearl navigate the highs and the lows of the Jazz Age, a bond is forged among them that is as memorable as it is lasting.