Shawn Colvin will make her long-awaited return to Australia with four dates scheduled in March and April 2013. She will perform sets at the famed Byron Bay Bluesfest on March 28 and 29 as well as solo shows at The Basement in Sydney on March 31 and The Corner in Melbourne on April 1. Colvin performs at the newly opened City Winery in Chicago tonight before returning to the road with Heart, followed by solo shows across the US.

Brad Mehldau launches a month-long European tour starting with a five-show run of performances with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, followed by an 11-city tour with the Brad Mehldau Trio. The Orpheus tour, featuring the premiere of a new piece by Mehldau, kicks off with a performance in Moscow, followed by stops in Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, and Vienna. Mehldau then meets up with his Trio for a set at Barbican Hall for the London Jazz Festival, followed by shows in Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Nonesuch Records is saddened to learn of the death of American composer Elliott Carter, who passed away yesterday at the age of 103. In a career that spanned over 75 years, Carter composed 158 works and received two Pulitzer Prizes. In 2008, on the occasion of Carter's 100th birthday, Nonesuch released A Nonesuch Retrospective, a four-disc set featuring most of the recordings the label made of Carter’s music between 1968 and 1985, with a note by Paul Griffiths, which is reprinted in its entirety here.

Tuareg guitarist and singer Omara “Bombino” Moctar has recorded a new album with producer Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, which will be released in early 2013 on Nonesuch Records. Bombino and his band traveled to Nashville over the summer to record in Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound in Nashville. Further details about the album and its release will be announced shortly, as will upcoming festival and tour dates.

Lianne La Havas—pictured in the Tom Ford gown she wore as a nominee at last week's Mercury Prize ceremony—is the subject of a feature profile on NPR's Morning Edition, which examines her banner year including, not least, the release of her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?. As host Renee Montagne says in her introduction to the piece, titled "The Golden Girl of British Music," it "helps if you’re as talented as the young singer-songwriter we’re about to hear from." La Havas makes her debut on the Late Show with David Letterman this Thursday and plays three US shows next week.

Nonesuch Records wishes Jonny Greenwood a very happy birthday today, which also marks the UK release of his soundtrack to Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, The Master. The Times of London, which gives the film a perfect five stars, exclaims: "Jonny Greenwood's score is superb." The Daily Telegraph, which gives The Master five stars as well, calls the score "extraordinary." Drowned in Sound says that "yet again Jonny Greenwood has excelled himself." 

James Farm—the collaborative band featuring saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland—launch a 13-city tour of Europe at the JazzOnze+ Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday, followed by tour stops throughout Germany, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Austria, and Poland in the coming weeks. Redman kicks off the season's Wigmore Hall Jazz Series, which he curated, joining the Axis Saxophone Quartet in London tonight.

Punch Brothers make their Austin City Limits (ACL) debut when the band's performance, recorded earlier this year, premieres on PBS this Saturday, November 3; also on the episode will be a set from The Civil Wars. Though Chris Thile has appeared on ACL three times—twice with his former band Nickel Creek and once in Dolly Parton’s backup band—this will be Punch Brothers' first time on the show. Watch the band's ACL performance of "Movement and Location" here. Punch Brothers are currently on tour in Europe.

Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra's new album, The Art of Instrumentation: Homage to Glenn Gould, is "lovely and alluring," says NPR Music, with "fresh and intriguing makeovers of several Bach keyboard classics ... There are many moments in this album to make you smile, wonder and simply bask in the beauty of the music." Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica continue their tour of Asia with performances at Tokyo's Suntory Hall.

When Lianne La Havas was in NYC last month to celebrate the release of her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, she stopped by WFUV to record an episode of Words and Music, out now. La Havas talks with WFUV's Alisa Ali about her life in music and to perform three songs off the album. Watch the performances and listen to the complete episode here. Lianne La Havas is up for the Mercury Prize this week and returns to the US next week to perform on the Late Show with David Letterman and Conan and in headline shows in the Washington, DC–area, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Punch Brothers' forthcoming five-song EP, Ahoy!, due out November 13, includes songs by Josh Ritter, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Punch Brothers, and Mclusky, along with one traditional tune. Last week brought an early listen to the band's take on Ritter's "Another New World," which is included as an instant download with pre-orders. Now you can get another taste of the EP by listening to a preview clip of "Down Along the Dixie Line," originally by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, here.

Philip Glass and Robert Wilson's groundbreaking opera Einstein on the Beach receives its West Coast premiere, nearly four decades after it was first performed, with three sold-out performances at Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall this weekend. PBS Newshour marked the occasion with a look at this groundbreaking work and the career of its composer, which you can watch here. This weekend's performances of Einstein on the Beach are part of a major international tour that heads next to Mexico City, Amsterdam, and Hong Kong.