Kronos Quartet joined legendary Azerbaijani singer Alim Qasimov and his ensemble at London's Barbican this past Friday for the center's annual Ramadan Nights celebration of Sufi music. The Guardian says the pairing produced an "outstanding" concert from the "intriguing collaboration" between Qasimov, "certainly one of the most thrilling, unashamedly emotional performers on the planet," and the Quartet, which showed "daring" and "range with a virtuoso set."

Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer's tour in support of their new, debut duo album continues in California this weekend, including a stop in San Diego on Sunday. The San Diego Union-Tribune says of Thile: "I can't think of any other mandolinist who is more talented or consistently innovative ... [He] is a master of his instrument who rarely fails to inspire or elevate his listeners." It goes on to praise the new album as "an all-instrumental gem that never sacrifices nuance and musicality for virtuosity, even when the two perform at a seemingly superhuman tempo ... Their fusion of classical and bluegrass, the earthy and the sophisticated, is so seamless and evolved that it seems unlikely anyone will catch up soon."

Kronos Quartet is in London this weekend for what promises to be a whirlwind of events at the Barbican: both its Open Weekend and Ramadan Nights, its annual festival of Muslim music. Kicking things off, Kronos performs tonight with the man who has been called Azerbaijan's greatest singer, Alim Qasimov, and his ensemble, including his daughter, Fergana. The Times (UK) calls the power of their vocals "devastating" and quotes Kronos's David Harrington as placing Alim Qasimov "up there in the top five of all time" among the world's greatest singers.

Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile released their debut duo album on Nonesuch this week, as well as a deluxe version of the recording with a DVD of performance videos and a behind-the-scenes look at their collaborative process. Tonight, in Boulder, Colorado, they launch a month-long tour that will come to a close at Carnegie Hall. Northern Colorado's Longmont Times-Call speaks with Thile about working with his hero and concludes that tonight's audience is in for "a shot at transcendence."

The Black Keys are on the road again, with opener Jessica Lea Mayfield, who contributed harmony vocals on the Attack & Release track "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be" and recorded her own CD with the Keys' Dan Auerbach as producer. The Knoxville News describes last night's show in that city as "All you want in a rock show." The Houston Chronicle previews an upcoming show by calling the band's recordings as "progressively varied, interesting and exciting."

Laurie Anderson brought her Homeland tour to The Egg in Albany, New York, this past Sunday and resumes the extensive tour at the Cullen Theater in Houston on October 10. The Albany Times-Union says the new piece "could well be seen as the provocative, pointedly political epilogue" to her monumental 1983 work United States, as well as "a full-fledged musical concert," with songs of "considerable political bite or incisive, poetic observations," and, in the case of "Mambo & Bling," also "laced with welcome humor."

Dawn Upshaw joins the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas tonight in an all-Bernstein program for Carnegie Hall's Opening Night Gala. After the program's premiere last week in San Francisco, the San Francisco Chronicle hailed Dawn's performance as "the high point," citing her "fizzy, funny and wonderfully evocative rendition" of the aria "What a Movie" from the opera Trouble in Tahiti. Tonight's performance, also featuring baritone Thomas Hampson, vocalist Christine Ebersole, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, launches Bernstein: The Best of all Possible Worlds, the Hall's joint celebration, with the New York Philharmonic, of the 90th anniversary of the composer's birth.

Wilco is encouraging everyone who is eligible to vote in this November's all-important US Presidential election to register now and head out to the polls on Tuesday, November 4. For anyone who pledge to do so, the band is offering a free download of a beautiful, live rendition of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," recorded in concert with Fleet Foxes this summer. Wilco has also signed on to perform this October at the 22nd annual Bridge School benefit concert organized by Neil Young, with whom Wilco will tour this winter.

Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile's self-titled debut duo album is due out tomorrow, and their month-long tour of the States in support of the record kicks off Thursday in Boulder, Colorado. New York Times critic Nate Chinen writes that, though "the mandolin ace" and "the accomplished bassist" first came together almost a decade ago as "prodigy with his mentor," the new collection "wisely presents them as equals," featuring "a busy dialogue between bluegrass and classical music, with blinding displays of dexterity as well as stretches of poplike lyricism."

Randy Newman's world tour got under way last week with stops at Carnegie Hall on Friday, Toronto's Convocation Hall on Saturday, and Boston's Symphony Hall on Sunday. Reviewing the Carnegie Hall show, New York magazine says that
Randy "sang about micro and macro American hypocrisy with more sharpness and poignancy than the combined works of Thomas Frank and Maureen Dowd." The Star-Ledger says "the droll raconteur provided more food for thought than a year's worth of media punditry, and he did it with soul." The Toronto Star calls Randy "a graduate cum laude of the master class of mid-1970s American musical poets" and says his latest album, Harps and Angels, "matches the caustic intelligence and musical virtuosity of his classic 1970s albums Sail Away and Good Old Boys." The Boston Globe calls Randy "pop's most incisive, sharp-witted satirist."

David Byrne showcases his collaborations with Brian Eno in Atlanta and Asheville ... Alarm Will Sound and San Francisco Ballet give two takes on Adams's Son of Chamber Symphony ... Laurie Anderson's Homeland heads to Princeton and Albany ... The Black Keys pay tribute to Woody Guthrie ... Bill Frisell plays a trio set on the East Coast and a solo set with Nels Cline out West ... Philip Glass plays to the poetry of Leonard Cohen in Milan ... Emmylou Harris sings to Scandinavia ... Randy Newman comes to Carnegie Hall ... Joshua Redman returns to Monterey Jazz ... Dawn Upshaw sings Bernstein in San Francisco ... and more ...

Randy Newman's Harps and Angels tour began earlier this week in Peekskill, New York, and continues downstate with two performances in New York City: a free in-store set at the Apple Store in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood tonight at 7 PM and a concert at Carnegie Hall tomorrow. USA Today describes a track off the new album as "sublime even by Newman standards." The Richmond Times Dispatch gives the album four stars, declaring: "He’s still in a class of his own, and Harps and Angels is the kind of album that longtime fans really get to celebrate every few years ... He’s in great voice, and his songwriting strikes the right Newman mix of sweet/sour/scathing that makes Harps a record that could have landed just behind 1974’s classic Good Old Boys and seemed like a natural progression."