Bombino's US tour brought him back to Brooklyn last night for an ebullient show at Brooklyn Bowl for what the New York Times calls a "full and overjoyed" crowd. As part of the tour, which heads next to California, Bombino played at the famed Newport Folk Festival this past Sunday. NPR Music was there to capture the weekend's highlights, including his set. "There's a hypnotic kick to his music that transcends barriers of language and geography," says NPR. Watch the Newport performance of the song "Kammou Taliat" here.

Timo Andres's new album, Home Stretch, is out now. On the new album, Andres pairs the newly composed title work with two reinventions of works by musical heroes Mozart and Brian Eno: Mozart "Coronation" Concerto Re-Composition and Paraphrase on Themes of Brian Eno. The Metropolis Ensemble, led by conductor Andrew Cyr, performs on the album, with the composer on piano. Home Stretch, says NPR, offers "thought-provoking glimpses into how the past and the present merge in classical music today." The Independent gives it four stars, calling it "a compelling blend of ancient and modern." Andres celebrates the album's release with a special event at NYC's Housing Works Bookstore Cafe tonight.

Lianne La Havas kicked off a North American summer tour this past weekend with sets at Baltimore’s Soundstage and New York's SummerStage in Central Park. She also stopped by CBS This Morning: Saturday to perform two songs off her album, Is Your Love Big Enough?: "Age" and "Lost & Found." "This is a record I can't stop listening to," says CBS's Anthony Mason. "She brings a rich array of influences to her music and an expressive voice that's drawn a big following on iTunes." Watch the performances here. The tour continues with stops in Northampton, Montreal, and Chicago.

Live From Lincoln Center will broadcast an expanded edition of its season finale from May, featuring series host Audra McDonald at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. “Audra McDonald In Concert: Go Back Home” is a special gala concert showcasing songs from a wide range of musical theater composers featured on her new album, Go Back Home. This 90-minute edition airs on PBS stations on August 30.

Bombino, currently on tour in the US, was the guest on NPR's World Cafe yesterday, performing two tracks off his Dan Auerbach-produced Nonesuch debut album, Nomad. "Bombino's explosively exciting desert-guitar sound somehow fit perfectly with Auerbach's rock/funk/kitchen-sink aesthetic," says the show of Nomad, "making for an album that's both thrilling and hypnotic." Rolling Stone has named Bombino an Artist to Watch, calling him "electrifying." The magazine includes Nomad on its Best Albums of 2013 Mid-Year Report, exclaiming: "Meet your new guitar hero." Los Angeles Times does too, declaring it "perfect."

The 2013 Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival gets under way today, and featured among the festival's 100 free performances taking place across the plazas of New York's Lincoln Center this summer are the events of Kronos at 40, curated in collaboration with Kronos Quartet to mark its 40th anniversary. This "festival within a festival" unfolds during the first five days of the larger festival and includes 28 concerts and events with daily appearances by Kronos plus performances by other artists. Check out the complete schedule of events and watch an interview with Kronos Quartet's David Harrington here.

Nonesuch / Perro Verde Records release Ry Cooder’s first live record in more than 35 years, Live in San Francisco, on September 10, 2013. Recorded in 2011 during a special two-night engagement with the Corridos Famosos band at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall, the album was produced by Cooder and includes original songs and interpretations of other material from throughout his career, plus Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs' "Wooly Bully" and Lead Belly’s "Goodnight Irene." The vinyl edition includes the complete album on two 140-gram LPs with a CD in the sleeve. Nonesuch Store pre-orders on vinyl and CD include an instant download of the track "Lord Tell Me Why"; preview the track here.

Nonesuch Records will release singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré’s Beautiful Africa in the US on September 24, 2013. The record, which was released internationally earlier this year to critical acclaim, was produced by English musician John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Sparklehorse). Uncut called it “the record fans of her explosive live shows always hoped she would make and a career highpoint.” Traoré performs music from the album in NYC in November as part of Lincoln Center’s White Light’s Festival; additional US tour dates will be announced. Beautiful Africa is available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store and includes an instant download of the title track.

Timo Andres's new album, Home Stretch, is due out next week, July 30, and is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen. The album pairs the newly composed title work with reinventions of works by Mozart and Brian Eno, creating "thought-provoking glimpses into how the past and the present merge in classical music today," says NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas. The title piece "brims with rhythmic play and crackling energy, but it also dips into intimate interplay between soloist and orchestra—still vibrant, but all the more intense for its closely held energy." 

On September 14, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club brings its world tour to the US for a run of dates that will hit New York, San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and more. The 15-member lineup includes Latin Grammy Award winners Omara Portuondo and Eliades Ochoa, trumpeter Guajiro Mirabal, and laúd virtuoso Barbarito Torres, all of whom count themselves among the original members of Buena Vista Social Club. Opening a number of concerts with his quintet will be Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca.

Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter’s ongoing duo tour of North America brought them to the Mountain Stage in West Virginia earlier this year. Their performance airs on the latest episode of the Mountain Stage radio show on NPR and is streaming online at npr.org. The episode's other special guests include Marti Jones & Don Dixon and Aoife O’Donovan. Colvin and Carpenter's tour continues through the summer and fall.

The Royal Conservatory's Koerner Hall in Toronto has announced its 2013–14 concert season, the organization's fifth anniversary season, which will feature performances from several artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Audra McDonald, performing the season's sold-out opening gala concert, Chris Thile, Shawn Colvin, Rokia Traoré, and Fatoumata Diawara. Tickets are on sale now.