Randy Newman played two shows at the Arizona Biltmore this weekend, performing songs from throughout his career, including his latest album, Songbook Vol. 2. "Newman isn't just a songwriter, he's an entertainer," says the Phoenix New Times. "He knows how to tug the heartstrings, knows when to crack a smile, and knows that satire is often the best way to drive a point home." Newman discussed the new album with the Huffington Post, which calls it "wonderful," and with the A.V. Club, which cites his "penchant for deft, multivalent satire." The Irish Times gives the album five stars.

Audra McDonald helped Carnegie Hall celebrate its 120th birthday as part of an all-star gala benefit concert with the New York Philharmonic earlier this month. McDonald performs songs by Duke Ellington; also on the program are works by Beethoven, Dvořák, and Gershwin. The Carnegie Hall 120th Anniversary Gala Concert will be broadcast on PBS tonight as part of WNET’s Great Performances. New York classical radio station 105.9 FM WQXR will also broadcast the concert.

Ry Cooder is featured on this week's edition of Truthdig Radio, in which he unveils "No Banker Left Behind," the first track off his forthcoming album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, due out on Nonesuch in late summer, as well as an excerpt from another album track, "John Lee Hooker for President." On the show, Cooder reveals the story behind the new album, in which he takes on Wall Street greed, among other pressing world events. Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer says: "It's right up there with John Lennon's Working Class Hero, which I think trumps just about anything else as far as taking serious, political observations and putting them to music ... It's just a great album."

In a new video, Emmylou Harris lends her voice to the effort to stop mountaintop removal mining in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Maryland. Harris joins Naomi Judd, Kathy Mattea, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and local and national organizations to help raise public awareness about an upcoming march to end mountaintop removal and a new documentary feature film about the issue called The Last Mountain, set for release in early June. You can watch Harris's video here.

Philip Selway "emerged from a couple of months in the Radiohead lair," as he puts it, to give a solo performance at the Liverpool Sound City festival this past Saturday. While there, he spoke with Drowned in Sound about his debut solo album, Familial, and the challenges of developing as a solo artist after all these years in the band. He also shares his thoughts on band mate Thom Yorke's dance performance in the video for Radiohead's "Lotus Flower." Selway performs another solo set this summer at the UK's Truck Festival in July.

Jonny Greenwood's orchestral piece Doghouse, featuring music used in his Norwegian Wood film score, received its US premiere in concerts with works by Philip Glass and György Ligeti at the NY Society for Ethical Culture last weekend. The concert is now available online at npr.org. "As with so much of Glass' output, there's something innately cinematic about Greenhouse's work," says NPR, "as well as a regal self-containment that evokes his hero Ligeti and is matched with a thrillingly dark tension." NPR calls it a concert "rich with ideas and emotions." The New York Times calls Doghouse "consistently involving."

Jessica Lea Mayfield has been nominated for New/Emerging Artist of the Year at the 10th Annual Americana Music Association Honors and Awards; the awards ceremony will take place at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in October. Mayfield launches a week-long European tour in Gent, Belgium, on Friday, followed by shows in Dublin, London, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, and Amsterdam. Her US summer tour opens with a set at Bonnaroo and includes a series of shows with The Avett Brothers.

Randy Newman will be the guest on today's episode of Soundcheck from NPR member station WNYC. Newman will talk with host John Schaefer about his 40-plus year career and perform songs from his latest Nonesuch album, Songbook Vol. 2. Newman celebrates Memorial Day weekend ahead with two performances at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, which the Arizona Republic includes among the "shows of the week."

Laurie Anderson brings her latest piece, Delusion, to the Brighton Festival with a performance at the Brighton Concert Hall Thursday night, preceded by a conversation there tonight about her work, her influences, her collaborations, and her thoughts on art, language, and storytelling. She spoke with BBC 6 Music about Delusion, which the BBC calls "a highlight of this year's Brighton Festival." The tour continues in Germany this weekend, followed by shows in Spain, Portugal, Greece, and beyond.

Senegalese musician Cheikh Lô’s first album in five years, Jamm, will be released in North America June 7. Upon its European release last year, Uncut called it the “African album of the year,” and the Guardian said, “Cheikh Lô is back with an album that reconfirms his position as one of the finest, one of the most soulful singers in West Africa.” In a four-star review, Q called it “true global music to make anyone feel better.” On Jamm, Lô’s mbalax rhythms and signature blend of semi-acoustic flavors—West and Central African, funk, Cuban, flamenco—support his husky vocals, with help from his regular band plus Tony Allen on drums and Pee Wee Ellis on sax.

James Farm band mates Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland continue their tour across Europe, with stops in Norway, France, and Benelux before returning to the US for four nights at NY's Jazz Standard in June. JazzTimes, in a review of James Farm's self-titled debut album, says: "The band reaches out to a wider world through 10 diverse, intriguing originals that boast melodic clarity, rhythmic allure and improvisational concision ... James Farm is a very cool album."

John Adams received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Juilliard School at the conservatory's 106th Commencement Ceremony and delivered the commencement address at the ceremony, held at Alice Tully Hally in New York City on Friday, May 20, 2011. Also receiving honorary doctoral degrees from Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi were pianist and producer Herbie Hancock, actor Derek Jacobi, and choreographer Twyla Tharp. The full text of Adams's commencement address is posted here.