Audra McDonald’s first solo album in seven years—Go Back Home—is out now. The album features songs by composers with whom she has long been associated (Adam Guettel, Michael John LaChiusa, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim) and some, like the Kander & Ebb title track, relatively new to her repertoire; in addition, McDonald continues to champion works by an emerging generation of composers. New York exclaims: "It's entirely possible that Audra McDonald is the greatest singer alive." The New York Times, which describes her concert for this Friday's Live From Lincoln Center on PBS as "absolutely thrilling," visited McDonald to capture an intimate performance of Guettel's "Migratory V," which you can watch here.

Sam Amidon makes his Nonesuch Records debut with today's release of his new album, Bright Sunny South. The album receives four stars from the Guardian, Mojo, Q, Blurt, and musicOMH, which notes "his wonderfully rich, expressive voice." Drowned in Sound calls it his "most emotionally and tonally complex LP to date ... Amidon has taken a huge step forward as a folk artist, creating arrangements which preserve his musicianship, while deepening the maturity of his interpretive skills." Scripps Howard Newsire says the "transcendent" opening track "sets the tone."

On June 25, Nonesuch Records releases Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle, which features highlights from three concerts in honor of the late singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, held in London, Toronto, and New York following Kate's death. The double-disc set was produced by Joe Boyd, who curated the concerts, and features performances by Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Antony, Norah Jones, Teddy Thompson, and others. Net proceeds go to the Kate McGarrigle Foundation for sarcoma research. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include instant downloads of the album tracks “Kiss and Say Goodbye” and “I Am a Diamond.”

Audra McDonald, whose first solo album in seven years, Go Back Home, is due May 21, performed songs from the album and more at Lincoln Center's spring gala last week. The concert will be telecast on PBS presented by Live From Lincoln Center on May 24. "Absolutely thrilling," raves the New York Times' Stephen Holden. "The very sound of the word 'thrilling,' with its suggestion of an embedded trill, evokes qualities inherent in Ms. McDonald’s soprano, which seemed to unfurl in ever-richer textures as she imbued songs with a sense of bursting possibility ... A defining voice of our time."

Walking Shadows, Joshua Redman’s first recording to include an orchestral ensemble, is out now. Its core ensemble is a quartet featuring Brad Mehldau, who produced the album, Larry Grenadier, and Brian Blade. Walking Shadows includes original tunes from both Redman and Mehldau along with works by a wide range of composers, like John Mayer and Pino Palladino, Kern and Hammerstein, and Lennon and McCartney. The album is "never less than exceptionally beautiful," exclaims Buffalo News, an "unmitigated triumph ... one of the jazz discs of the year." MusicOMH concurs, suggesting this "gorgeous" album "will prove to be one of the year’s most satisfying jazz listens."

Sam Amidon is set to make his Nonesuch Records debut with the release of his album Bright Sunny South on May 14. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it. The album is streaming in full all this week exclusively at Pitchfork as part of its Advance multimedia early-listen experience. Amidon will perform songs from the new album at NYC's (Le) Poisson Rouge on May 16, followed by a European tour of headline shows and festival sets, and returning to the States to tour in June.

Happy Record Store Day! Today is the sixth annual celebration of the unique culture surrounding independently owned record stores around the world, and a number of Nonesuch Records artists have special, limited-edition vinyl releases out now to mark the occasion: The Black Keys, Bombino, Iron and Wine, and Punch Brothers. These recordings are also available for a limited time in the Nonesuch Store.

Iron and Wine makes its Nonesuch Records debut with today's North American release of Ghost on Ghost. The AP calls it "a wonderfully produced and assembled record, propelled with joyous momentum even on tracks with darker lyrics." The NY Daily News gives it four stars, citing its "gorgeous and glowing melodies," as does American Songwriter, which says the songs "sound absolutely sublime." In the UK, where the album is out on 4AD, Uncut also calls it "sublime ... a work of immense beauty and scale." Ghost on Ghost earns five stars from the Mail on Sunday, Independent on Sunday, and Daily Telegraph and four stars from Mojo, Independent, Observer, Guardian, and Metro, which calls it "a brilliantly written collection and an album of the year." 

Punch Brothers’ five-song EP Ahoy!, previously released digitally and on CD, is now available on 10" vinyl. Recorded during the Nashville sessions for their critically acclaimed album Who’s Feeling Young Now?, these tracks also were produced by Jacquire King. The Ahoy! EP includes songs by Josh Ritter, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Punch Brothers, and Mclusky, along with one traditional tune, arranged by Punch Brothers.

Nonesuch releases Audra McDonald’s first solo album in seven years—Go Back Home—on May 21, 2013, featuring songs by composers with whom she has long been associated (Guettel, LaChiusa, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim) and some, like the Kander & Ebb title track, relatively new to her repertoire; in addition, McDonald continues to champion works by an emerging generation of composers. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an instant download of the title track (which you can preview here) and a limited-edition autographed print. On May 24, McDonald headlines and hosts "Audra McDonald In Concert: Go Back Home," a national PBS telecast presented by Live From Lincoln Center, featuring songs from the album as well as other personal favorites.

Iron and Wine makes its Nonesuch Records debut with the release of Ghost on Ghost next week. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it. The album is streaming in full all this week as an NPR First Listen. "Beam now presides over arrangements springy and three-dimensional enough to accommodate a horn section—and yet he still finds a way to wrap his agreeably soft voice around thematically weighty material," writes NPR's Stephen Thompson. "Beam still lets his songs and sound morph and evolve; more than ever, he's a songwriter versatile enough to pack huge ideas into simple arrangements and vice versa."

Rokia Traoré’s new album, Beautiful Africa, following last week's release in France, is out this week in the UK, the rest of Europe, and Canada, with the US release to follow at a later date. The album has been met with great critical acclaim, earning perfect five-star reviews from the Guardian, which calls her "Africa's most inventive singer-songwriter," Observer, Daily Telegraph, and Financial Times. Uncut calls it "a career highpoint." Traoré recorded an intimate version of the album track "Ka Moun Kè" in the halls of le Trianon in Paris; watch it here, where you can also watch her recent appearance on Radio France's Vinyl Radio.