Ry Cooder recently took New York Times writer Lawrence Downes on a tour of El Mirage Dry Lake in California's Mojave Desert, the inspiration and setting for I, Flathead, the third and final album in Ry's California trilogy, and its companion novella. Downes describes their destination as "a land of spy planes, space aliens, off-road vehicles, sturdy reptiles and people with freaky desert habits, like racing vintage hot rods on dry lakebeds ... in other words, a critical stop on Ry’s California trail." The day's adventure in the desert with Ry, he writes, "was as though I’d been roaming the Delta with Robert Johnson, or gypsy France with Django Reinhardt."

Nonesuch Records has signed singer/songwriter/fiddle player Sara Watkins, best known as a founding member of the Grammy Award–winning, critically acclaimed, and platinum-selling band Nickel Creek. With Nickel Creek on indefinite hiatus, she has made her self-titled debut solo album, recorded in Los Angeles and Nashville and produced by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Nonesuch will release Sara Watkins on April 7, 2009.

With the election of Chicago favorite son Barack Obama to the Presidency, a considerable amount of outside attention has been paid of late to the city. The New York Times recently talked to another of the city's favorite sons, Jeff Tweedy, a longtime supporter of the President-elect, about changing perceptions of Chicago. Wilco tops the list of nominees for the 28th annual Chicago Music Awards: Songwriter of the Year for Jeff, plus Pop Entertainer of the Year, Best Rock Entertainer, and Most Outstanding Band or Group for Wilco.

Nonesuch Records is pleased to announce that singer/songwriter/guitarist Dan Auerbach, best known as half of The Black Keys, will release his solo debut, Keep It Hid, on February 10, 2009. Dan will begin a national tour with performances in New York City, Boston, and Washington, DC, with opening acts Those Darlins and Hacienda, the latter also lending support as Auerbach’s backing band.

Nonesuch Records congratulates Sérgio Assad, winner of the 2008 Latin Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for "Tahhiyya Li Ossoulina," off Sérgio and Odair Assad's latest Nonesuch album, Jardim Abandonado. The ninth annual Latin Grammy awards were handed out last night in a celebration at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, broadcast live on Univision, that included a live performance by label mate Fernando Otero.

Saxophonist Joshua Redman’s 2007 album Back East was his first recording as the leader of an acoustic sax/bass/drums trio. The seminal 1957 Way Out West by his hero Sonny Rollins provided a conceptual impetus for Redman’s album. Among other accolades, the New York Times called Back East, “the most agile and personal record of his career.” Going one step further on concepts from that album, Redman entered the studio with four friends and colleagues—Brian Blade (drums), Larry Grenadier (bass), Gregory Hutchinson (drums), and Reuben Rogers (bass)—who, with Redman, became a rotating, and intertwining, pair of trios. Together they recorded what became Redman’s new Nonesuch album, Compass, which will be released on January 13, 2009.

Clarinetist/composer Don Byron celebrates his 50th birthday with a series of four different programs at New York's Jazz Standard, beginning tonight and running through Sunday. Opening the festivities this evening is Don Byron Plays the Music of Mickey Katz, in which Byron revisits his groundbreaking 1993 klezmer-rooted Nonesuch album of the same name. Next is music from Byron's classic 1996 release Bug Music, featuring works by Duke Ellington and others. On Saturday, the Don Byron Quartet takes the stage, and closing out the celebration on Sunday, Byron returns to his Nonesuch catalog and his Latin-focused 1995 recording, Music for Six Musicians.

Punch Brothers kicked off a string of November tour dates this past weekend. These latest dates marked the debut of Punch Brothers' new bassist, Paul Kowert, who, fittingly, studied with Chris Thile's recent duo partner, Edgar Meyer. The Bluegrass Blog says Kowert is "more than up to the task. Not only has he memorized the demanding Punch Brothers repertoire, but he is a brilliant soloist in his own right." The band, the review concludes is "the most technically gifted string ensemble yet assembled, and the discipline they exhibit individually and as a unit is a wonder to behold."

Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté is currently on tour in the US, and performs in the Bay area on Wednesday, November 5. The San Francisco Bay-Guardian's music blog, Noise, recently posted about his music and his recent album, The Mandé Variations, describing Diabaté's "ability to incorporate disparate sounds from Western pop, Indian classical music, and blues while remaining grounded in his country's tradition."

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, a new feature film by director Chai Vasarhelyi documenting the creation of and worldwide response to N'Dour's Grammy-winning 2004 album, Egypt, won the audience award at the closing ceremonies of the 32nd Annual São Paulo International Film Festival last week. The film debuted at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals earlier this year and was awarded the Black Pearl Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago.

It is with great regret that Randy Newman has had to postpone his forthcoming European tour on doctor's orders, because of physical limitations and severe pain caused by stenosis in the lower back and neck. The 18-date tour had been due to start this Saturday, November 1, in Berlin. "I deeply regret not being able to come," says Randy. "I like it so much in Europe, and I've always been treated so well. I'll get there as soon as I can."

Last weekend, Wilco performed at the 22nd annual Bridge School benefit concert  organized by Neil Young, with whom the band will be heading out on the road a month from now for a tour of North America. But you don't have to wait that long to see the band play live. Tune in to The Colbert Report on Comedy Central tomorrow night, when Wilco will be the show's guest. On Saturday, members of the band will play a free Concert for Change on behalf of the Obama campaign at the Union Theater in Madison, Wisconsin.