The Magnetic Fields will bring 50 Song Memoir back on the road in June, performing at the Apollo Theater in NYC on June 15 and 16, Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh on June 19 and 20, and the Luminato Festival in Toronto on June 22 and 23.

Brad Mehldau's new album, After Bach, which pairs selections from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier with new music by Mehldau inspired by WTC, was reviewed on NPR's All Things Considered. Reviewer Tom Moon says: "The album cover, a black-and-white picture of a massive spiral staircase, is ... an apt image, capturing the supreme order of Bach's music, as well as its sense of endless, possibly infinite variation—a quality Mehldau celebrates with his originals on this collection." Hear the review here.

Natalie Merchant has announced A Summer Evening With… summer tour of intimate, historic venues across the UK. The tour, from St Ives on July 13 to Oxford on July 30, is her most far-reaching of the country to date and includes songs from throughout her career. "There's so much of Britain I've never seen," says Merchant. "I expect this summer's tour will satisfy my desire to explore those historic and scenic regions while meeting up with my fans who live there."

Sam Amidon has announced a UK tour for October, with shows in Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Sheffield, and Newcastle, in addition to previously announced summer festival sets. He begins a North American spring tour at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville this Friday, with shows in Lexington, Philadelphia, NYC, Brattleboro, Cambridge, Montreal, Toronto, Ann Arbor, and Chicago, plus sets at the MusicNow festival in Cincinnati.

Rhiannon Giddens, the Guest Curator of the 2018 Cambridge Folk Festival, has selected the performers she has invited to Cherry Hinton Hall this August 2–5: Peggy Seeger, Kaia Kater, Birds of Chicago, Amythyst Kiah, and Yola Carter will be introduced by Giddens before each takes the stage. Giddens will also perform at the Festival. She will give the keynote address at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville this Saturday.

Brad Mehldau Trio's Seymour Reads the Constitution! is due May 18, 2018, on Nonesuch. The pianist and his longtime trio perform three Mehldau originals plus interpretations of pop songs (Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson), jazz tunes (Elmo Hope, Sam Rivers), and one work from the American songbook (Frederick Loewe's "Almost Like Being in Love"). Pre-order to download the album track "Spiral" now.

Rostam, who resumes his US Half-Light tour at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville on Sunday, announced two new headline shows: at Brooklyn Steel in NYC on May 24 and the Fonda Theatre in LA on September 14. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh has released a video of Rostam with a string quartet performing "Gwan," from Half-Light, and a cover of Nick Drake's "Pink Moon," made as part of The Warhol's Silver Studio Sessions series. You can watch it here.

Congratulations to Brad Mehldau, whose new solo album, After Bach, debuted simultaneously at No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart, his highest career position on that chart, and at No. 3 on the Billboard Classical Albums chart! Another career high: the album debuted at No. 2 on the UK Jazz/Blues chart too. Mehldau's previous release, the 2017 self-titled duo album with mandolinist and label mate Chris Thile, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart.

Congratulations to David Byrne, whose album American Utopia debuted at No. 1 on the Top Album Chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200, the highest of his career. The album also topped both the Rock and Alternative Album Charts. American Utopia has also debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Album and Alternative charts, another career high. There are more career chart highs across Europe, where the album premiered in the Top 20 in the UK and Ireland, and Top 40 in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Netherlands.

Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet's new album Landfall was reviewed on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Fans can hear Kronos "explode their range" on the new album, says reviewer Milo Miles. He also notes "the unprecedented mixture of strings and electronics guided by Anderson's unmistakable voice." The album results "from years of practicing, performing, refining and tweaking the collaborations," Miles concludes. "You can hear how the time and care have paid off." You can listen to the complete review here.

David Byrne presents American Utopia: Detroit, a video for "Everybody's Coming To My House" from his new album, American Utopia, featuring a performance of the song by Detroit School of Arts (DSA) Vocal Jazz Ensemble students. The video, which includes personal perspectives and interpretations from the students, was filmed in part by their classmates from the school's Radio & Television Department. You can see it here, along with Byrne's conversation about the video and more with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show. Byrne has also added new US shows with special guest Tune-Yards on his world tour.

Robert Plant kicked off a new season of The Big Interview with Dan Rather on AXS TV on Tuesday. The hour-long episode covers Plant's life and career from Led Zeppelin to his latest solo album, Carry Fire. Fans in the US can watch the complete episode here.