Pete Kelly’s Blues

Jazz cornetist Pete Kelly and his Big Seven are the house band at the 17 Club in Kansas City during Prohibition. Crime boss Fran McCarg tries to skim a percentage of their earnings, threatening the band's survival. Kelly decides to decline the strongarm and sees what consequences may follow.

After the night's last set, club manager Rudy sends Kelly and the band to the mansion of Ivy Conrad, a wealthy flapper who hosts rowdy parties. Kelly leaves a message for McCarg to call him there, while Ivy tries to seduce him and he struggles to resist. The call is intercepted by the band’s drunk drummer, Joey Firestone, who abusively turns McCarg down.

Kelly and the band are ambushed on the road back to town by unknown assailants who force them off the road. In the chaos, Joey Firestone is violently thrown out of the car onto the hood, foreshadowing the violence to come. The incident leaves the group shaken and more exposed to McCarg's influence.

The following night, Firestone roughs up Guy Bettenhauser, McCarg's top hired gun. The friction escalates tensions between Kelly's group and McCarg's faction, setting the stage for further confrontation. Kelly desperately tries to patch things up but the feud deepens.

As the band finishes its last number, two gunmen burst into the club. Kelly attempts to shepherd Firestone out the back, but Firestone is shot to death in the alley; the murder leaves Kelly heartbroken and fuels his resolve. The incident marks a turning point in the conflict with McCarg.

Following Firestone's death and the departure of his longtime friend Al, Kelly returns home to find Ivy asleep in his bed. After initial resistance, they begin a relationship that eventually becomes an engagement, complicating Kelly's priorities.

All the local band leaders hold a secret meeting to decide how to respond to McCarg's pressure. Kelly reiterates that he will put up no resistance, but the rest eventually capitulate. Detective George Tennel, trying to bring McCarg down, approaches Kelly but is refused.

McCarg tries to win the band's support by pressing his moll, Rose Hopkins, a former songbird fallen on hard times. Her singing improves, but her drinking does too, and she collapses mid-song; McCarg's assault on her backstage results in a brutal beating.

Rose Hopkins is beaten by McCarg after she quits mid-song, an incident that shocks Kelly and his allies. Al reconciles with Kelly, but the band remains under McCarg's thumb, and Kelly feels trapped.

Bettenhauser returns to tell Kelly that McCarg ordered Firestone's murder. He offers to help take down McCarg if Kelly can raise $1,200 by daybreak. Kelly agrees, hoping to turn the tables despite the danger.

Bettenhauser explains there are incriminating bank checks and papers hidden in McCarg's office at the Everglade Ballroom. Kelly arms himself and heads to retrieve the evidence, aware that the confrontation could be lethal. Ivy's presence distracts him at a critical moment, raising the stakes.

Kelly returns to the club as chaos erupts and the riotous orchestration blares. Ivy tries to have one last dance, but Kelly is forced into a firefight with McCarg's men and Bettenhauser in the ballroom. Bettenhauser climbs into the rafters to gain a better angle and is shot dead. Kelly hurls a chair at the other gunman, knocking him into McCarg and mortally wounding him; the remaining gunman immediately surrenders.

With McCarg dead and the immediate danger behind them, the 17 Club returns to business as usual. The band plays livelier than before, Ivy and Pete are back together, and Rudy looks for new ways to cut corners to keep the club afloat.