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.

Record Store Day has premiered The Arcs' new track "Young," which was co-written by David Berman of the Silver Jews. "We've been meeting at night, writing together for a few years," says The Arcs' Dan Auerbach. "This is the first time we've shared any of that. The Arcs have recorded more songs from the collaboration and we hope to release more of it very soon." You can hear the track here. The song appears on the band's limited-edition six-song recording, The Arcs vs. The Inventors Vol. I, featuring Dr. John and David Hidalgo. The 10" vinyl is out this Friday, November 27, for Record Store Day's Black Friday event. A digital version will be available December 11. The Arcs kick off a North American tour December 1.

Today marks the release of Junun, the new album from composer/musician Shye Ben Tzur, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and the Rajasthan Express, a group of Indian musicians. Recorded earlier this year in a makeshift studio inside the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India, the album was made with Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich. The album comprises Ben Tzur’s compositions, which feature devotional Sufi qawwal musicians who sing in Urdu as well as in his native Hebrew. "One of the most inspired releases of the year," exclaims the Sunday Times of London. "Intriguing, sinuous, and essential listening." Also out today on iTunes: Paul Thomas Anderson's film documenting the recording. Watch an outtake from the film featuring the song "Hu" here.

Rokia Traoré's sixth album, Né So (Home), will be released by Nonesuch Records on February 12, 2016. The album was produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman), who also produced her 2013 record, Beautiful Africa. Né So features guest performances by John Paul Jones, Toni Morrison, and Traoré's labelmate Devendra Banhart, along with Burkinabe drummer Moïse Ouattara, Ivorian bassist Matthieu N'guessan, long-time collaborator Malian ngoni player Mamah Diabaté, guitarists Rodriguez Vangama and Stefano Pilia. The album, which features 10 original songs and a cover of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," is available to preorder with an instant downloaded of the title track. Traoré has released a video of that track, which you can watch here. She will tour in support of Né So this spring.

Today marks the release of Punch Brothers' five-song EP The Wireless. The tracks were recorded during sessions for the band's T Bone Burnett–produced album The Phosphorescent Blues, which was released earlier this year to critical acclaim, and four of the tracks were included on the vinyl edition of the album. The Chicago Tribune called the album "a typical genre-busting melange of avant-roots music that fuses jazz instrumental chops and acoustic earthiness, Beach Boys harmonies and Debussy string dances, slinky acoustic rock songs and blues laments." The Wireless comprises four original compositions, including a song with words by Gabriel Kahane entitled "Sleek White Baby," plus a cover of Elliott Smith's "Clementine."

Brad Mehldau's new 10 Years Solo Live is now available as a four-CD box set and digitally. The set, which was first released as an eight-LP vinyl box set last month, is culled from 19 live recordings made over a decade of the pianist's European solo concerts and "contains some of the most impressive pianism he has captured on record," says the New York Times. He is "a player with a stunning virtuosity and daring ability to mine far reaches of improvisation," raves All About Jazz. This is "a beautiful release/box from a unique pianist who continually shows what the piano can do." "Brad Mehldau is a magician," exclaims Record Collector. "Hearing the pianist in full flow during a live performance is ... nothing less than an awe-inspiring experience."

Lake Street Dive's Nonesuch Records debut album, Side Pony, will be released on February 19, 2016. The four band members worked with Nashville-based producer Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Secret Sisters) on the record, which is available to pre-order now with an instant download of the album track "Call off Your Dogs"; you can hear the track here. Tour dates to support Side Pony begin February 22 in Phoenix and include stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, New York, and more; tickets go on sale Thursday, November 19.

Junun, the new album from composer/musician Shye Ben Tzur, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and a group of Indian musicians known as the Rajasthan Express, due next Friday, November 20, is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen at npr.org/music. The album's "real magic comes when the brass section is unleashed," says NPR's Tom Pryor; some tracks "practically jump out of the speakers and command listeners to dance."