Two brothers, living in the Jazz Age, look forward to a life in music. Morey, a violinist, had mentored younger sibling, Charley, a brash and ambitious prodigy who flees his hometown to play banjo with Manhattan's leading orchestras. He encourages Morey to join him. Paternal but jealous and lacking his brother's talent, Morey reluctantly agrees. And together they pursue their dreams.

The brothers' journey takes them from elegant ballrooms to Harlem speakeasies and from ocean liners to rehearsal halls and broadcast studios. Along the way Morey loses a love and Charley embarks on a passionate affair with a stunning fashion model.

The unlikely lynchpin of all this turmoil and glory is a Chinese restaurant on the City's upper west side, where key events in their lives are mourned or celebrated with the support of a kindly owner and his family.

Then tragedy strikes...