Caetano Veloso's tour through California in support of his album Cê began earlier this week in Pasadena, and Variety magazine reports that the singer "sounded effortlessly contemporary. Even more impressively, he did it without compromise." For Variety writer Steven Mirkin, the rocking stage show brings comparisons to Talking Heads, Lou Reed, and the Strokes.

When Youssou N'Dour performed in upstate New York in 1994, he did so before a crowd of more than 150,000 at Woodstock ’94. This Sunday night, he’ll return to the region to play before a slightly more intimate, though likely no less enthusiastic crowd, at the Kingston, NY, Ulster Performing Arts Center. But as the town’s Daily Freeman reports, at least a few reminders of the spirit and sound of the original event at Yasgur's Farm in 1969 remain. The Washington Post recognizes Youssou as “the greatest contemporary singer from Senegal and possibly all of Africa," and of his new album, Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take): “the album's sound is intricate, indigenous and characteristically exhilarating.”

Daily News Los Angeles recently spoke with Caetano Veloso, whom the paper calls "one of the most respected Portuguese-language poets in the world," in advance of a rare Southern California appearance last night in Pasadena. He plays tomorrow night in Santa Cruz.

Last month, the San Francisco Jazz Festival was the site of the world premiere of Glenn Kotche's Anomaly, which the composer performed together with Kronos Quartet. This month, two more Nonesuch artists join the festival's 25th anniversary celebration, when Caetano Veloso performs at the Nob Hill Masonic Center this Saturday, November 17, and Youssou N'Dour hits the stage for the festival's closing night, Friday, November 30.

The national tour of Sweeney Todd, based on the 2005 Broadway production recorded by Nonesuch, has joined forces with the studios releasing the Tim Burton–directed film version starring Johnny Depp for a special sweepstakes, reports Playbill.com. Prizes include a private screening of the film for the winner and 50 of his or her closest friends and copies of the Broadway cast recording. This follows an announcement of a contest by the film companies and MySpace to meet Johnny Depp at a global premiere of the film. 

Philadelphia magazine is giving away tickets to see Youssou N'Dour in concert next Tuesday, November 20, for his debut appearance at the city's Kimmel Center. 

Dawn Upshaw will perform Berio's Folksongs with the New York Philharmonic, March 5–8, 2008. Audra McDonald was originally slated to perform at the concerts, but has had to withdraw due to a scheduling conflict. 

On Sunday, Caetano Veloso made his Toronto concert debut, and the Globe and Mail takes the opportunity to weigh in on the ever-evolving performer it calls, approvingly, "a master of 'all is not what it seems.'" "The music of Cê in itself is prime Veloso in trickster mode. It's rock music that's a poke in the eye of 'rockism,' the elevation of certain rock music to exalted elite status ... But the music, whether audacious and driving or achingly melancholic, and from whatever period of his prolific songbook, was unfailingly stronger for any inherent contradictions." In advance of tomorrow night's show in Pasadena, the Los Angeles Times has published a profile of the performer examining how he has maintained what may be "the most varied career of any '60s icon."

Pianist Philip Bush reports in his blog, Mostly Music in the Midlands, from his weeklong tour through France with the Steve Reich Ensemble and conductor Alan Pierson performing The Cave, Reich's early '90s video-opera collaboration with Beryl Korot.

The Times (London) gives four stars to Richard Goode's November 7 performance with Dawn Upshaw at London's Southbank Centre. The concert was the pianist's first in a series there as artist-in-residence for the 2007–08 season. The pianist's solo work, which included an "always movingly lyrical performance" of Berg's Piano Sonata was "quite some feast." And for Upshaw, there was "a new depth and focus" in the singer's work.

With the national tour of Sweeney Todd now at its second stop, Toronto can experience the production that was so well received in Boston. BroadwayWorld says the reason for the response is clear: “the simple genius of exceptional material interpreted within a brilliant directorial vision and delivered by an immensely talented and inspired cast. In short, this Sweeney Todd is not to be missed.” The Toronto Star calls it “so musically thrilling, dramatically inventive and visually striking that anyone who likes theatre above the ordinary should be thrilled to spend a few hours in its company ... You'd be a bloody fool to miss this one ... It's a murderously magical evening in the theatre.”

Organizers of the Ojai Music Festival have released a few details for the 62nd annual event, with Dawn Upshaw slated to perform and Steve Reich named as composer-in-residence. The Festival, which runs June 5–8, 2008, marks the composer's first appearance there in 35 years and includes a number of events featuring his works.