TT: See me, hear me (cont'd)

Now that I'm millimeters away from putting Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington to bed, the time has come to face the public. On Tuesday night I'll give the first public reading anywhere--yes, anywhere--of an excerpt from the prologue to Duke.

The occasion is a program called "Music to Your Ears" that's being presented by Big Umbrella Nonfiction, a Manhattan-based reading series that takes place each month at the impeccably cool 2A . I'll be sharing the bill with Touré, author of I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon , and Brendan Jay Sullivan, author of Rivington Was Ours: Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side, and the Prime of Our Lives . While I'm not entirely sure that I'm hip enough to share a stage with these gentlemen, I'll don the black outfit and give it my very best shot.

Quoth the press release:

There will be $4 whiskey deals, there will be books for sale courtesy of McNally Jackson, there will be giant video projection, as usual. There will be a great time had.

I regret to say that Duke is not yet on sale, but you can pre-order a copy by going here .

2A is at 25 Avenue A. The proceedings start at eight p.m. For more information, go here .