SWEET DILLARD chronicles a year in the life of the Dillard Center for the Arts Jazz Ensemble, an inspiring high school jazz band in Broward County, Florida. Ulysses, a keyboardist who lost his father at a young age; Chris, who once stole cars and sold drugs before breaking away from his pill-addicted mother; and the rest of the band follow their no-nonsense bandleader, Christopher Dorsey, to New York City for the national championships, determined to make their families and South Florida proud.