I’ve been listening to my favorite station, WPFW 89.3, and my favorite DJ, Rusty Hassan. 
When I first moved to DC many years ago, hearing Rusty was like getting a taste of home. A soothing voice, a great collection of music, and an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz — what more could you ask?
My fictional private eye Willis Gidney seems to like Rusty too. In STEAL THE SHOW, my second PI novel, Gidney is committing a felony while thinking of listening to Rusty on his drive home. Talk about a fan!
Then I met Rusty at Takoma Park’s Jazzfest. I sent him a copy of STEAL THE SHOW and he invited me to come to his show. That’s tonight.
So what’ll we do? Despite my suggestion that I play the spoons while reciting the Constitution, Rusty said we’ll talk about jazz and the PI novel, I’ll read from one of the Gidney books, and then we’ll play some songs from the Willis Gidney Quintet. This group consists of Steve Mencher, John Shepherd, David Schulman, Alex Martin, and yours truly.
You didn’t know Willis has his own band? Not many fictional characters do, but the WGQ is a terrific jazz band that’s playing this weekend at the New Deal Cafe. C’mon down, if you like solid jazz from great players!