Rock and jazz drummer max is dead. Now, in his coffin as his friends prepare to bury him, Max is surrounded by the ghosts of his life and the dreams that never faded. All the old music is back too - from raw seventies rock-and-roll to the type of cool jazz that made legends of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. In this sea of memory, Max recalls the tragedies, people and relationships that defined his life. From his first love Maree Kilmister he learned about sex; from his great love Debbie Canova he learned about loss; and from the enigmatic Laetecia Sparks he learned about hope. As the players in his life gather for his funeral, he has one last chance to relive his past and see it for what it was. Driven by music and passion, The Dirty Beat shimmers with an electric intensity.