A long-dead musical legend is back...or not? Phoenix Smalls has plenty of aspirations: to be famous with dignity; to set a new record by holding her breath for a record time; to do the longest "moonwalk". But she knows what none of her aspirations involvers: music. With a jazz-club owner mother, and a father who was constantly on the road, managing musicians and bands, Phoenix has seen more of the music lifestyle than she thinks she will ever need. However, after a childhood squirming through piano lesson after piano lesson, Phoenix becomes uncharacteristically intrigued with an old, rotting piano in the back room of her mother's jazz club. The piano - and the near-catastrophe it causes - starts Phoenix on a menacing journey.