Another Feast of Music; Another Marcus

My review of last Wednesday's Carnegie Hall concert is available on Feast of Music here.  What a cool show that was!  I can't say enough good things about it.  I couldn't tell whether I was at a classical concert (with Mika Yoshida and Richard Stoltzman) or a jazz gig (with Eddie Gomez and Steve Gadd)!  In the end, I didn't care, because it was just awesome.  That was my first time at Carnegie Hall, and I certainly will remember it.  Two hours prior, I also went to the Carnegie Deli for the first time.  Equally unforgettable!  I mean, you don't ever forget a four-inch TALL sandwich.  Holy cow.
My last Marcus article is here.  It always amuses me when any given link of mine goes relatively viral.  At last count, this article has been tweeted 28 times, which I think is a record.  (A different article of mine was Facebook-liked 97 times, which seems to be as "out of reach" as Wayne Gretzky's career point total record.)  As I've said many times, I don't write for stats, but when the stats do come, it's a pleasant surprise.

Feast of Music update + more Marcus

Last Sunday, I went to Jazz Standard to see Patricia Barber.  As a result, not only did I turn my experience into a Feast of Music blog post, but I gained an appreciation for how terrible my phone's camera really is.  Seriously, look at the enclosed picture in that article.  The backdrop is red, and Barber (at the piano) is wearing all black.  You would never guess that from the picture, but trust me--I was there, and it's true.  (To be fair, maybe it's just a setting that I don't know how to change.)
Since my last posting here, I have inexplicably neglected this blog.  Since it truly would be a Sisyphean task to list every single link, I will simply wish everybody a Happy Passover instead.  As always, you can neatly access my MS repertoire here.  (Wish I could do the same for the FoM stuff!)

A Trip to the Galapagos

Nope, not in Ecuador.  Thanks to Feast of Music, I had the pleasure of visiting the DUMBO Art Space, in order to review the Darcy James Argue Secret Society concert.  Read it here!  It was a great show, and hopefully, my review does it justice.
Galapagos is one of the most unique venues I have ever seen.  It is a "green" building, with recycled materials, efficient hot water heaters, and eco-friendly paint.  Even more, there is a lake in the middle of the floor.  Yes, a lake.  This is an environmental feature too, as it naturally helps regulate the internal temperature.  How cool is that?
I also had the pleasure of trying two excellent beers there.  Peak Organic winter ale was a delicious grapefruit beer, and Kelso of Brooklyn pilsner tasted like smoked gouda--how unexpected!
Can't wait until tomorrow.  I have a good editorial on tap for Marcus.  Stay tuned!

Introduction, and Ari Hoenig concert review

Greetings!  If you are reading this, then you are likely (a) a friend of mine already, or (b) a prospective future employer of mine.  I am Mike Engle, originally of New Orleans, LA, but currently living in the New York area.  I was a music major at McGill University (and yes, I still play), and I plan to enroll in an accredited law school in New York City, starting this fall.  (I do not know which one yet, but when I finalize that decision, I will certainly blog about it!)
In the meantime, I am a blogger.  I have been a writer, in some form, shape, or capacity, for as long as I can remember.  My elementary school had a literary magazine, The Kaleidoscope, which accepted submissions from the students.  In retrospect, I think that every submission was accepted (can't hurt anybody's feelings at such a young age); however, I am fortunate to have had great teachers (in both English and French) who required us to write for The Kaleidoscope.  My first validation of my writing talents came in Grade 11, when I was recognized as a NCTE award winner from New York State.
After my NCTE recognition, I began to appreciate my writing abilities.  While I produced my fair share of essays for high school and McGill, I also enrolled in my local community college's creative writing courses during select summers.  Meanwhile, I periodically wrote contributing pieces to several of my favorite blogs, on a casual basis.  Finally, after enough formal and informal practice, I earned my first journalistic internship at the Marcus Samuelsson Group, where I have worked since 14 February 2012.
Now that I am, legitimately, a regular writer, I have decided to keep this blog.  Whenever an article of mine is published, I will place a link here.  When I do not have anything to publish, I may choose to post an old article of mine, and then react to it (or not).  Of course, I also plan on writing short articles here, or maybe just little snippets of thought.  Either way, I hope that this blog will serve as a complete archive of my works, because it is already hard enough to remember every website where I have been featured!  If I were to develop this blog any further, then that would be wonderful.
So without further ado, I would like to share my debut article for the Feast of Music blog.  This Friday, I will be at Brooklyn's Galapagos Art Space, where I will be covering the Darcy James Argue's Secret Society concert for FoM.  Aside from that, thanks for reading, and enjoy the ride.