While jaded veteran boxer Jack Doyle fights for his life in the ring, naive young guitarist R.J. plays for his on the stage of Dante's Lodge—the city's most (in)famous jazz club. Vincenzo, its ruthless Sicilian boss, has a soft spot for the blues—and for Miss Lena. He'll do anything to keep her and R.J. for himself and, with Prohibition about to end, wants to make a killing before his "protected" world comes crashing down around him. But both he and R.J. have an even more merciless enemy in opportunist Theo Egan. What chance does young R.J. have?