Vagabon (aka Laetitia Tamko) is a special guest host on the latest episode of the Talkhouse podcast, recorded back in March with Black Belt Eagle and SASAMI. She joins Talkhouse host Elia Einhorn to discuss her work and issues of representation for women of color in music and live performance spaces, ahead of the latter two artists' own talk about the subjects. You can hear the conversation with Vagabon, whom Einhorn calls "one of my absolute favorite artists," at the start of the full episode here.

On his Nonesuch Records debut, Over That Road I’m Bound, due October 2, 2020, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joachim Cooder uses the plain-spoken songs of country-music progenitor and banjo player Uncle Dave Macon as a jumping off point, playing with the lyrics and reworking melodies for his chosen instrument: an electric mbira. Cooder culled songs from Macon’s vast catalog and recorded them with his band and special guests: Ry Cooder, Rayna Gellert, Juliette Commagere, Sam Gendel, Glenn Patscha, Amir Yaghmai, Dan Gellert, and Vieux Farka Touré. The album track “Come Along Buddy” is available today; a video may be seen here.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi performed "At the Purchaser's Option," the opening track to Giddens' 2017 album, Freedom Highway, from home in Ireland for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's online series Play at Home today. You can watch it here.

It was thirty years ago today: Kronos Quartet's album Black Angels, featuring composer George Crumb’s title piece, was released on Nonesuch. Kronos's connection to the piece dates back to the ensemble's origins when, in 1973, violinist David Harrington was inspired to form the group after hearing the work. Crumb's piece sets a powerful tone for the collection, which addresses the political, physical, and spiritual consequences of war, and includes works by Tallis, Ives, Shostakovich, and Istvan Marta. "As a piece of music, George Crumb's Black Angels remains at the heart of Kronos," Harrington says in a new short film about the album you can watch here. "It seems as relevant today as it did in 1973. As an album, Black Angels set our course for the next thirty years and beyond."

David Byrne helped kick off the Aspen Ideas Festival's 2020 online edition in a conversation with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker on Sunday. The two discussed the role of the artist in difficult social times such as this. "Music can unite people," Byrne says. "It can make people feel that they belong, that they’re not alone." You can watch their conversation here. Also on the festival's opening day were conversations with Anthony Fauci and Stacey Abrams.

Two Natalie Merchant albums are now available digitally for the first time: Butterfly, a studio album featuring four new songs and six reinterpretations from her catalogue arranged for string quartet, and Rarities, a collection of fifteen rare and previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1998 and 2017. For Rarities, Merchant curated a selection of unique home studio demos, album outtakes, live tracks, and collaborations with diverse artists like Billy Bragg, David Byrne, The Chieftains, Cowboy Junkies, and Amy Helm. Both albums were created for and were previously only available as part of the deluxe ten-CD box set The Natalie Merchant Collection in 2017.

Lianne La Havas will play a one-off solo live show at London's Roundhouse on Wednesday, July 15, which will include new songs from her forthcoming, self-titled album and throughout her catalog. This very special, multi-camera, one-night-only performance will be broadcast via YouTube; tickets go on sale this Friday. La Havas will donate her proceeds to Black Lives Matter–related organizations. She has just released a cover of Radiohead's "Weird Fishes," the latest single from the new album, due July 17. The new track is "glorious," says Uncut; Mojo calls it "a show-stopper."

The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade—who reunite for the upcoming album RoundAgain, met up for a conversation about the project, their first recording together since 1994’s MoodSwing. They shared stories from their long history together while at the Falcon in upstate New York for a performance last fall. You can watch the conversation here, along with previously released performances of two RoundAgain tracks from the concert.

Rhiannon Giddens has released a video of her performing a new song she's written, "Build a House," featuring Yo-Yo Ma on cello, in honor of Juneteenth. "This song came knocking about a week ago and I had to open the door and let it in," Giddens says. "What can I say about what’s been happening, what has happened, and what is continuing to happen, in this country, in the world? There’s too many words and none, all at once. So I let the music speak, as usual. What a thing to mark this 155th anniversary of Juneteenth with that beautiful soul Yo-Yo Ma. Honored to have it out in the world." Watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens led a Live With Carnegie Hall session with Francesco Turrisi in recognition of Juneteenth, examining the music and history of minstrelsy, the most popular form of entertainment in America during the 1800s, and its influence in the creation of the American cultural identity. They look at the global context of minstrelsy through the journeys of the banjo and the tambourine and examine what there is to reproach versus celebrate in the birth of American music. You can watch it here.

In honor of Live From Here, the public radio show hosted by Chris Thile in its current and previous iterations from 2016 till last week, we offer our thanks to everyone there who made the show such a joy for its listeners and viewers, and for providing a unique showcase for so many artists. In celebration, we have assembled some of our favorite performances from the show by artists who have recorded for Nonesuch Records, including Thile, Punch Brothers, Rachael Price, Rachael & Vilray, Gaby Moreno, Vagabon, Gabriel Kahane, Lake Street Dive, The Staves, Dan Auerbach, Robert Finley, Randy Newman, Brad Mehldau, and Nickel Creek. You can watch them here.

The filmed version of the Broadway show David Byrne’s American Utopia, directed by Spike Lee, will debut on HBO later this year. "Spike and I have crossed paths many times over the years, obviously I’m a huge fan and now finally here was an opportunity for us to work together," said David Byrne. "I am absolutely thrilled with the result ... Thrilled that this show and the subjects it addresses will now reach a wider audience." "It is my honor and privilege that my art brother, Mr. David Byrne, asked me to join him in concert, to invite me into his magnificent world of American Utopia,” Spike Lee said. “And dat's da ‘once in a lifetime’ truth, Ruth. Ya-dig? Sho-nuff. Peace and love. Be safe.”