New York City, 1949 - Cool is the JAZZCAT, the first great cat singer. He and Kitten, the hostess at the new Birdland jazz club, have a mutual crush but they’re too shy to admit it. Cool is a rising star and Larry Canary, his evil rival, is the King of Jazz. In the fictional setting of JAZZCAT, canaries are lead singers, songbirds are back-up singers and cats are musicians, not singers. Who does Cool think he is? Larry has a secret plan. He phones Sally Gumbo, a lady lark in New Orleans who knows the dark arts. He tells her that Cool want to hurt every songbird and asks her to put a curse on Cool so he can’t sing. Sally believes his lie and she puts a curse on Cool.
Cool loses his singing voice and he’s crushed. He can’t even face Kitten, though she loves him for who he is, not his voice. Cool’s mentor Owlonious is a wise owl and he finds a way to help Cool get back on his feet. He sends the Feathers to Cool - Luella, Pete, Daisy and Jimmy – four songbirds who want to be more than back-up singers. Cool becomes their Manager and they nail it at the Songbird Festival in Chicago but Larry denies them the top prize. Cool is furious and he tells Larry to leave them alone but Larry warns that he’ll crush them.
They defy Larry and go on tour. Larry tells his thug, the giant chicken Roadie, to stop them and Kitten overhears him. She telegraphs Cool to warn him and they confess their love. Roadie tries to sabotage them in New Orleans. He wraps an icy towel around Jimmy’s throat so he can’t sing at their big concert. Cool learns of a lady in the French Quarter, Sally Gumbo, who can help. She heals Jimmy and Cool invites her to their concert. She doesn’t know who he is, the cat she put a curse on, but she learns the truth that night. Larry lied to her! She vows to fix her big mistake.
Cool and his friends return to New York and Larry orders Roadie to kidnap Luella’s unhatched baby, Eggzactly. Roadie takes him to a high rise hideaway but the baby hatches, wobbles out to the landing and falls off. Eggzactly learns to fly in midair but Roadie fears the baby has fallen to his death. He’s frantic and goes to Luella’s flat, and he’s thrilled when Eggzactly greets him. Cool sees that Roadie has a big heart and he gives Roadie a plan to trick Larry. Roadie tells Larry that the baby fell off the landing but not that he survived. Larry is delighted. He thinks he’s crushed the Feathers forever. Roadie quits, happy that Cool got him a job as the Doorman at Birdland.
Sally Gumbo arrives at Cool’s flat, tells him about the curse and lifts it so he can sing. Larry has no idea that Cool can sing again. He’s stunned when he goes to his Birdland gig, Roadie greets him and he finds out that Cool and the Feathers will open for him. The crowd loves them. The JAZZCAT is back and Cool and the Feathers are the new Kings of Jazz. The crowd leaves to tell all their friends and the club is empty. No one has stayed to watch Larry what’s-his-name.
© 2022 by Ken Kahn