The movie was set in the late 60s, on the lower side of Manhattan in a club called POW, which had an allure for race mixing; this venue attracted the moderate and working class patrons from Harlem and lower Manhattan. The POW was the place for attracting young singers and novice players wanting an opportunity to perfect their craft; if you wanted to be noticed and given an opportunity to blow your pipes, this was the place to be with the end crowd. As the crowd feverishly chatted, as the smoke filtered through the room, the mist lingered seductively and faded away like ghost from years past who sat on this very stage and remembered the times of long ago. Now, the crowd was grooving to the sound of Adam bellowing out licks, rhythm and melody from his horn and the crowd was enjoying his vibrations with enthusiasm. As the camera panned over the mixed crowd, the patrons, puffed on their smokes, bobbed and weaved their heads as the Quartet bellow out smooth sounds of jazz; everyone was here for Adam and his quartet to play soulfully and for Adam to blow out those melodic tunes and licks from his trumpet horn and this character called Adam was a complicated, and temperamental jazz musician, who had demons that he needed to control and harness in order to keep his sanity.
Adam was perceived as an arrogant and pompous jazz horn player; he knew the ins and outs of the sleazy jazz joints and stuffy supper clubs. He was the main attraction of the jazz quartet and most of the patrons came to hear Mr. Temperamental Adam Johnson perform and as long as the tempo is good with the groove of the audience and the band members are feeling the groove; somehow, he manages to create a scene or drink to the extent of causing a rift between the group or Bobby who is his booking manager; and when his demons begin to surface from the pits of hell; he goes on his rampage of destructive binges of boozing, cocaine and women. And during those destructive binges, he sobers up and always finds himself in an apologetic demeanor for his unruly behavior; along comes his savior, the woman who will accept nothing more than him being his self and even she can’t control the demons that caused the death of his wife and child.
-- Charlie Eruchalu
