Wanna-be hipster Burt is a trumpet player who'd rather be playing jazz instead of what he's doing now -- making what he considers watered-down, lifeless music as part of a nameless, faceless orchestra. But his tune changes when happy-go-lucky Linda, a flutist, joins the ensemble and shows him there's more to life than pining for a dream.

After Charlie Shivers' rug is ruined by painters, he hires his friend Tommy Two-Lips to steal him a new one. When Tommy profits off of it, Charlie gets his cousin Louie Lemmons to kill Tommy -- but it ends up making Charlie the main suspect.