Joshua Rifkin celebrates 40th anniversary of Joplin's Piano Rags album in NYC ... Alarm Will Sound performs Reich's Tehillim for NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival ... Ben Folds tours Midwest ... Philip Glass goes solo in Colombia ... Wanda Jackson plays free hometown show in Oklahoma City .... Glenn Kotche, Bang on a Can play Reich in Kentucky ... The Low Anthem performs at Bowdoin ... Stockholm celebrates Reich ... Allen Toussaint continues NYC residency ... Sara Watkins plays Boston with The Decemberists ... Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish give recital in Connecticut ... and more ...

Wanda Jackson celebrates the release of her new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, with a free show in her hometown of Oklahoma City tomorrow. She is featured on the latest edition of the New York Times Popcast. The Huffington Post calls her "every inch an Elvis," who, with the new album, is "cementing her status as royalty ... Wicked Good!" The Montreal Gazette gives the album four stars, calling the pairing of Jackson and White "an inspired one." ClashMusic exclaims: "The Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson is back on her throne."

The Konserthuset in Stockholm kicks off Steve Reich's 75th birthday year with Tonsättarfestivalen: Steve Reich, five days of concerts, starting tonight, featuring the Stockholm Royal Philharmonic, Kroumata, Amadinda, Synergy Vocals, and the composer himself, who performs Clapping Music on tonight's program. The concerts will be broadcast on Swedish Radio P2. This week's festival is the first of a year's worth of events around the world honoring the composer's 75th birthday on October 3.

The Low Anthem is in Los Angeles to perform at The Wiltern with Iron and Wine tonight. The bands will be together again this spring when they launch a two-week tour in April. Before that, The Low Anthem will embark on a headlining tour in support of its forthcoming Nonesuch release, Smart Flesh, due out February 22. Salt Lake magazine listed the band's sets at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this week among the week's musical highlights.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops release a four-song EP today, a collaboration with the New York City–based Romanian gypsy punk band Luminescent Orchestrii and beatboxer Adam Matta. "More than anything, this collaboration is a tribute to the power of music to bring people together," says No Depression. The Chocolate Drops’ begin their tour next week on Lincoln Center’s prestigious American Songbook; Matta and multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins join the band on the road.

The Barbican in London has announced its Classical Music 2011–12 season, which includes a Kronos Quartet residency with a program of American music and a special mediation on the anniversary of 9/11; two concerts from the LSO celebrating Steve Reich's 75th birthday; and the UK premiere of Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach in conjunction with the Cultural Olympiad's London 2012 Festival.

There's just one more day till the release of Wanda Jackson's new album, The Party Ain't Over, produced by Jack White; they'll celebrate as musical guests on Conan on Tuesday. Jackson is featured in the New York Times, which traces her influence on generations of performers. The Boston Globe cites "delicious and unexpected delights on her new album." The Washington Post calls it "wild fun." Vanity Fair calls it "inspired ... unmistakably and perfectly 'Wanda.'” The Detroit Free Press sees it as "a fun, feel-good achievement." The Independent names it CD of the Week, one that "cannot help but put a smile on your face." The Times of London calls it "extraordinary."

Brad Mehldau and the musicians featured on his 2010 Nonesuch release, Highway Rider, gave the final live performance of the album, at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles Friday night. The Los Angeles Times says: "It wasn't classical-jazz, jazz-pop or some other hyphenated hybrid. It was just a great ride." Mehldau gives a New York Times–recommended solo set at Carnegie Hall this week, featuring songs off Highway Rider and Mehldau's forthcoming Live in Marciac, as well as works by Brahms, Bach, Fauré, Radiohead, and Jeff Buckley.

Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman give final live performance of complete Highway Rider at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA ... Timothy Andres plays in NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival ... The Black Keys' Austin City Limits set airs on PBS ... Shawn Colvin plays Washington state ... Ben Folds kicks off tour in Minneapolis ... Philip Glass pays tribute to Allen Ginsberg with Patti Smith in Paris ... Wanda Jackson, Jack White play sold-out shows in NYC, LA ... Audra McDonald sings at Utah State  ... Randy Newman has solo shows in Arkansas, Texas ... Punch Brothers play three shows in the Midwest ...  Allen Toussaint launches weekly series in NYC ... Dawn Upshaw sings Bartók, Berio with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra ... and more ...

Wanda Jackson rocked out with Jack White and The Third Man House Band on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Shakin' All Over," the opening track of her forthcoming album, The Party Ain't Over. "Wasn't that tremendous!" Letterman exclaimed. "That was fantastic." Watch it here. Nonesuch is giving away tickets to their sold-out shows in New York and LA, which the Los Angeles Times calls "a can't miss scorcher of an evening."

Jessica Lea Mayfield’s Nonesuch Records debut, Tell Me, is due out February 8 and is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive signed 7” of the album’s first single, “Our Hearts Are Wrong.” Mayfield will tour throughout 2011, including shows with The Avett Brothers and Justin Townes Earle as well as newly added headlining dates to follow the release of the album.

Ben Folds brought 2010 to a close on a high note, with his Nick Hornby collaboration, Lonely Avenue, having made a number of year-end best lists and The Sing-Off, the NBC singing competition of which he was a judge, a smash hit. Folds is now set to bring music from both to venues across the US as he launches his 2011 tour with support from Sing-Off finalists Street Corner Symphony. Folds then tours Europe, Australia, and Japan in the coming months.