Lianne La Havas will release Blood Solo, a collection of five tracks and an interlude from her Grammy-nominated album Blood plus a new song, "Fairytale," performed solo, on February 12. In celebration of the EP's release, La Havas performs two of the solo songs on Conan and The Late Late Show with James Corden in the coming week. Additionally, Leon Bridges has announced that La Havas will open for him during his autumn US tour. Tickets go on sale this Friday. "I'm so excited to go on the road with Leon because I am a fan," says La Havas. "It will also be a great chance to see many parts of the USA that I've not yet had the pleasure of visiting."

Rokia Traoré's new album, Né So, is out February 12. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas, who calls Traoré "fantastically gifted," notes that "the idea of refuge ... serves as a central catalyst to Traoré's gorgeous new album." She concludes: "Né So is a sonically beautiful project, for sure, and it's easy to get lost in the lilting rhythms and Traoré's smoky voice. But if you're simply sitting back with this album, you may have missed her point." Hear Né So in full here. Traoré kicks off a tour in London on Saturday, followed by stops throughout Europe in the weeks ahead. She heads to the US in late March for performances in NYC, DC, and Savannah.

Today marks the release of the late Henryk Górecki’s final composition, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, recorded during the 2014 world premiere performance at Royal Festival Hall with London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrey Boreyko. The piece, incomplete at the time of Górecki’s death, had precise indications for orchestration, which Górecki’s son Mikolaj, also a composer, used to complete it. NPR calls it "an intriguing summation of the sounds of a singular career." Symphony No. 4 is out individually and as part of Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective, a seven-disc box set containing all Nonesuch recordings of Górecki works. Also out now: the first vinyl LP of the beloved 1992 Nonesuch recording of Górecki’s Symphony No. 3.

Guitarist and singer Michael Daves celebrates the February 26 release of his double album Orchids and Violence with a series of live performances in NYC at Rockwood Music Hall, Knitting Factory Brooklyn, and The Bell House, March 3–5. The album comprises bluegrass and electric versions of mostly old-time material. In the first set each show, Daves will present the bluegrass material with Noam Pikelny on banjo, Brittany Haas on fiddle, Jake Jolliff on mandolin, Larry Cook on bass, and Jen Larson on harmony vocals. The second set will feature the electric material with Daves joined by experimental rock drummer Kid Millions and electric bassist Jessi Carter.

Over the past week, the Nonesuch Journal has posted a series of videos leading to the January 22 release of the seven-disc box set Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective, the first recording of the his Symphony No. 4, and the first vinyl LP of the beloved 1992 Nonesuch recording of his Symphony No. 3. The previous videos include interviews with the late composer; his son Mikolaj, who completed his father’s Fourth Symphony; Adrian Thomas, who wrote the liner notes; and conductor Andrey Boreyko, who led the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s premiere and recording of Symphony No. 4. Today comes the final in this series of videos: an excerpt from the premiere performance of Symphony No. 4. Watch it here.

The five-part series celebrating the January 22 release of Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective and the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, continues. Today, we hear from conductor Andrey Boreyko, who led the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the premiere performance and Nonesuch recording of the new piece. "I hear these chorales bringing a very special atmosphere of concentrating on one’s own life," says Boreyko, "the lives of other people, things that happened, the meaning of it all, the afterlife, is there a light at the end of the tunnel or isn’t there? I believe this symphony as a whole is trying to answer this question as well." Watch the interview here.

The Nonesuch Journal continues its five-part video series marking the forthcoming release of Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective and the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, by hearing from Adrian Thomas, the author of the book Górecki and of the liner notes for the new recording. "What you get in this Fourth Symphony is pretty much the widest range of Henryk's character," says Thomas. "I think he had very broad interests in terms of what constitutes the mind, what constitutes the spirit, what constitutes the soul, and that can involve earthy things as well as ethereal things, and this is what you get in the Fourth Symphony." Watch the interview here.

Yesterday, the Nonesuch Journal began a five-part series of videos marking the forthcoming release of the seven-disc box set Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective with the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, on Friday, January 22. Today, Górecki’s son, composer Mikolaj, who completed Symphony No. 4 after his father’s death, discusses the piece; his relationship with his father as son and pupil; and his efforts to complete the piece after the precise indications for orchestration his father had left in the score.

Nonesuch Records releases Michael Daves's two-album set, Orchids and Violence, on February 26, 2016. Orchids and Violence comprises two discs with identical track listings of mostly traditional bluegrass tunes, including songs by bluegrass pioneers Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. The first disc features straightforward interpretations recorded in a 19th-century church with a band of roots-music innovators: bassist Mike Bub, violinist Brittany Haas, mandolinist Sarah Jarosz, and Punch Brothers banjoist Noam Pikelny. The second disc was recorded in Daves's home studio and includes bass, drums, and electric guitar, mostly played by Daves, and takes a raw, experimental rock approach to the same old-time material. Pre-orders include an instant download of both the bluegrass and electric versions of the song "The Dirt That You Throw."

The new six-song recording by The Arcs, entitled The Arcs vs. The Inventors Vol. I, featuring Dr. John and David Hidalgo, which was first released as a limited-edition vinyl 10" as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event, is now available digitally; a limited quantity of the 10" vinyl is also now available in the Nonesuch Store. The disc is the first in a series of collaborative "Inventors" recordings to be released by The Arcs. The band is currently touring the US with music from Yours, Dreamily, its debut album.

Rhiannon Giddens's new five-song EP Factory Girl, which was first released as a vinyl 10" as part of the Black Friday Record Store Day event, is now available digitally; a limited quantity of the 10" vinyl is also now available in the Nonesuch Store. NPR Music's Ann Powers says: "Deftly curated, gorgeously sung, this EP is America." The EP is culled from the same T Bone Burnett–produced sessions that yielded her solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, which has been nominated for a Grammy Award and has landed on several lists of the year's best, including those from NPR Music, Rolling Stone, Sunday Times, Uncut, and Mojo. 

Today is the day after Thanksgiving in the US and that means, among other things, Record Store Day Black Friday, offering unique recordings from some of your favorite artists, including The Arcs, who have released The Arcs vs. The Inventors Vol. I, a new limited-edition 10" six-song recording featuring Dr. John and David Hidalgo, and Rhiannon Giddens, who releases Factory Girl, a five-song vinyl 10" EP culled from the same T Bone Burnett–produced sessions that yielded here solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn. To pick up a copy of these vinyl releases while supplies last, head to a record store near you.