Rhys Chatham's A Crimson Grail is due out on Nonesuch next week, but Chicago audiences can celebrate early, as the Rhys Chatham Trio performs at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art tonight. The concert is named a Top Live Show by Time Out Chicago and a critics' choice of the Chicago Reader, which calls A Crimson Grail "gorgeous" and "monumental." Record Collector describes A Crimson Grail as "imaginative, bold and successful."

Due to the death of a family member, The Black Keys are rescheduling their show at the Charlottesville Pavilion this Thursday, September 9, to Tuesday, September 14, and the September 14 show at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, has been moved to Thursday, September 16. The band apologizes for this scheduling shift and any inconvenience it may cause. They thank their fans for their patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Pat Metheny follows last spring's worldwide Orchestrion Tour with an additional 19 North American performance halls beginning October 1. He has performed shows to sold-out audiences in some of the world’s best-known halls, including two sold-out nights at New York City’s Town Hall. London’s Telegraph calls the show “a triumph,” while the Kansas City Star says, “Metheny’s Orchestrion is nothing short of spectacular ... Endlessly fascinating and visually dazzling.”

The Punch Brothers' tour is back in full swing and headed to Austin this Friday. The band has added a new tour date back on their home turf at Brooklyn's Southpaw, October 21, as special guests of Dierks Bentley. The performance marks the closing night of Bentley's four-night, four-venue New York City residency. Fans across the country will be able to hear the show as it airs live on Sirius/XM on both The Highway and Bluegrass Junction channels.

Amadou & Mariam make Daily Candy's Labor Day playlist ... The Black Keys launch tour with Kings of Leon ... Punch Brothers play moe.down festival ... Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rhys Chatham play free outdoor sets ... Bill Frisell joins Paul Motian Trio in NYC ... Richard Goode travels to Toulouse ... The Low Anthem, Philip Selway play Electric Picnic ... Brad Mehldau debuts at Chicago Jazz Fest ... Joshua Redman tours Asia ... Allen Toussaint does Detroit Jazz Fest ... Sara Watkins plays Prairie Home Companion ... and more ... 

The Black Keys' appearance on NPR's World Cafe airs again today for the show's Best of Summer series. The band hit the road again last night, headlining at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, New York, with The Whigs supporting. Both bands join up with Kings of Leon for a three-week tour starting in Indianapolis tonight, continuing through September 23, after which The Black Keys launch their own fall headlining tour through November.

Tune in to NPR's Fresh Air today to hear highlights from the Carolina Chocolate Drops appearance on the show from earlier this year, following the release of their album Genuine Negro Jig. It's Country Music Week at Fresh Air, with the show revisiting "interviews with country music's legendary songwriters and performers." The band performs a free outdoor concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee, tonight.

Tune in to The Late Late show with Craig Ferguson to see Sara Watkins perform "Where Will You Be," off her self-titled Nonesuch debut album tonight on CBS. She, Garrison Keillor, and the cast of A Prairie Home Companion bring their Summer Love Tour home to the Minnesota State Fair for a live radio broadcast of the show on Saturday. Watkins promises a song by Harry Nilsson and one by Randy Newman.

Natalie Merchant concludes her summer US tour, featuring music from her album Leave Your Sleep, at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina, tonight. She hits the road again in October for a five-stop tour of the mid-Atlantic states backed by a full orchestra. Glide says the new album shows "once again that Natalie Merchant not only has the chops to be one of the best singer-songwriters of her generation, but rather she is one of the defining ones."

Punch Brothers return to the road Saturday for the first of several September performances, starting with a set at the moe.down festival in Mohawk, New York. The band's fall tour includes a stop at the Lied Center in Lawrence, Kansas. Punch Brothers guitarist Chris Eldridge spoke with the folks at the Lied Center about the band's unique sound, in a video interview now on YouTube. Watch it here.

Laurie Anderson and Brad Mehldau are featured on New York magazine's list of The 20 Most Anticipated Events of the Fall in classical music and dance. Anderson tops the list with the New York premiere of her piece Delusion, which opens BAM's Next Wave festival. Brad Mehldau comes to New York as holder of the Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall, for the New York premiere of Highway Rider.

Carolina Chocolate Drops tour Midwest ... Bill Frisell joins Paul Motian Trio at Village Vanguard ... Richard Goode plays Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw ... Natalie Merchant brings Leave Your Sleep to Atlanta and Nashville ... Philip Selway plays Osaka ... Chris Thile goes solo in NYC ... Allen Toussaint joins Cyndi Lauper in LA ... Sara Watkins, Garrison Keillor, and A Prairie Home Companion bring Summer Love to Oregon ... and more ...