Joe Henry, the singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer, talks with NPR's Fresh Air about his new album and about the 2009 album he produced for Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi, on which, for the first time, Toussaint explores the work of his New Orleans forebears, like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Jelly Roll Morton. Henry also produced the Carolina Chocolate Drops' 2010 Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig. He will perform with Brad Mehldau at London's Wigmore Hall next month.

The 10th Annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival gets under way in Manchester, Tennessee, tomorrow and runs through the weekend, with performances from a number of artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Low Anthem, Wanda Jackson, Sara Watkins, The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach, and Allen Toussaint. In addition, Nonesuch has teamed up with Relix magazine and the Bonnaroo Beacon, the official daily newspaper of the festival, to offer two very special contests to Bonnaroo attendees.

Congratulations to Allen Toussaint: he will be among the newest members inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a ceremony on June 16 in New York City. Toussaint's debut appearance on Austin City Limits, which first aired last year and featured songs from his Nonesuch debut album, The Bright Mississippi, will be rebroadcast on PBS stations across the US this weekend.

The lineup for the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (a.k.a. Jazz Fest) has just been announced, and, as always, there's much to look forward to when the festivities get under way this spring. Jazz Fest will be held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans the weekends of April 29–May 1 and May 5–8. Among this year's performers are The Low Anthem, Punch Brothers, hometown favorites Allen Toussaint and Nicholas Payton, and Wilco.

Allen Toussaint kicks off fall with six solo sets supporting Neil Young. Four of these dates are Gulf Coast benefit shows, for which Young has teamed up with Tyson Foods to fight hunger in Gulf Coast communities affected by the oil spill. Young is asking concertgoers to bring non-perishable food items to the concerts. All donations will be given to the Bay Area Food Bank, which serves communities in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.

The BBC World Service arts program The Strand headed to New Orleans for a look at how the city's arts community had been recovering in the five years since Hurricane Katrina struck and in light of the current BP oil disaster. The show features New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, whose album The Bright Mississippi showcases the work of New Orleans jazz greats. "The spirit here is alive and well," he says.

New Orleans native Allen Toussaint will perform at Gulf Aid, a benefit concert to raise funds for wetland recovery efforts and to support fishermen and families affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Also scheduled to perform at this Sunday's event are Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Mos Def, Dr. John, and many others. It will be broadcast on New Orleans radio station WWOZ 90.7 FM, online at wwoz.org.

Celebrate Brooklyn!—one of New York City's longest-running free, outdoor performing arts festivals—has announced the complete line-up for this summer's concert series in in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Among the featured performers this year are Allen Toussaint, The Low Anthem, and the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, featuring Omara Portuondo.

Tune in to Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight to catch Allen Toussaint's performance with the New Orleans band Galactic. Toussaint's current US tour concludes in a special double bill with The Blind Boys of Alabama at Royce Hall in Los Angeles Saturday. He heads next to Europe for a number of shows, including the Allen Toussaint Festival with Don Byron in Bologna and a week's residency at the 35th anniversary International Jazz Festival Bern.

Mardi Gras has come early in New Orleans as the city celebrates the Saints Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts. To mark the team's first-ever Super Bowl win and the final score of 31-17, the Nonesuch Store is taking 31% off the list price of The Bright Mississippi, New Orleans native Allen Toussaint's ode to the city's rich jazz heritage, on CD and vinyl.

Allen Toussaint celebrates his 72nd birthday today. He received an early birthday gift when he was awarded the Grand Prix, Best Disc of the Year, from France's Académie du Jazz, for his 2009 Nonesuch debut, The Bright Mississippi. The awards ceremony took place this past Tuesday in Paris with members of the Ministry of Culture and a diverse array of artists in attendance.

Allen Toussaint is set to make his long-awaited debut on the PBS series Austin City Limits this Saturday, January 9. The hour-long episode kicks off a string of new shows for the award-winning concert series. Toussaint and his band perform interpretations of jazz classics from his Grammy-nominated Nonesuch debut, The Bright Mississippi, as well as beloved Toussaint originals like “Working in the Coalmine” and “Southern Nights.”