Randy Newman performs at the Oscars ... Adams’s Doctor Atomic Symphony receives Canadian premiere ... Carolina Chocolate Drops sell out in Charlottesville ... Ben Folds closes out UK leg of European tour ... Wanda Jackson plays DC and Dallas ... The Low Anthem play Philly, Pittsburgh, and Mountain Stage ... Jessica Lea Mayfield's on the Late Show ... Brad Mehldau, Anne Sofie von Otter close out duo tour ... Joshua Redman is in Oregon for PDX Jazz Fest ... Chris Thile joins Great Falls Symphony on his Mandolin Concerto ... Allen Toussaint's on Austin City Limits ... Sara Watkins is on A Prairie Home Companion ... and more ...

Jessica Lea Mayfield will be the musical guest on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight, performing "Our Hearts Are Wrong," off her Nonesuch debut album, Tell Me. Also on tonight's show are Glee's Matthew Morrison and comedian Jeff Altman. Mayfield is set to tour Europe in May and June, following her US tour. The tour begins in Belgium on May 27 and includes concerts in Ireland, UK, France, Germany, and Holland.

Ben Folds's Lonely Avenue tour of Europe got off to a smashing good start in Ireland and the UK this past week. The Independent gives a perfect five stars to the "monumental" London show, with Folds "amazing the audience time and again ... It's an absolute joy to watch someone so gifted perform." MusicOMH gives the concert five stars as well, calling it "a performance that doesn't set a foot wrong, from an artist who systematically matches storytelling with perfect orchestration and harmony. Impeccable." The Evening Standard says Folds's "musicianship shone through with jazzy interludes from his band and beautiful harmonies."

The Low Anthem kicks their tour at the Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, DC, tonight. NPR's All Songs Considered will be broadcasting the concert live online at npr.org. The Associated Press calls their new album, Smart Flesh, "stunningly memorable ... Decidedly eclectic, the Low Anthem use simple chords, haunting sounds and unusual instrumentation to create something sincere and beautiful." On this week's New York Times Popcast, Times writer David Carr says: "You don't hear singing like that every other day. It's very, very impressive."

The Black Keys have added another date to their summer tour schedule unveiled earlier this week: as a part of Summerfest 2011, the band will headline  at the Marcus Amphitheater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 6, along with touring partners Cage the Elephant and special guest Florence + the Machine. Tickets go on sale March 5. Fan pre-sale for the June and July shows announced this past Tuesday began yesterday through MusicToday.com. Public on sale for those is either tomorrow or Saturday.

The Low Anthem, whose latest album, Smart Flesh, was released yesterday on Nonesuch, launches a brief winter tour in Washington, DC, tomorrow night. NPR's All Songs Considered will be there, broadcasting the concert live online. The band will be back in the States this spring, for support slots with Iron & Wine and a slew of newly-confirmed headlining dates, including a special show at the pasta sauce factory in Rhode Island where they recorded most of the new album. Watch the video for the album track "Boeing 737," shot at the factory, here.

On The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2, which Nonesuch Records will release on May 10, Randy Newman takes a fresh look at both classic and more recent work in new solo recordings of his celebrated songs. Songbook Vol. 2, which was co-produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker, includes songs spanning from the 1968 album Randy Newman through 2008’s Harps and Angels. Newman began his North American tour on February 11 and continues through April 22 in San Francisco. Newman performs his Oscar-nominated song from Toy Story 3 at the awards ceremony this Sunday.

The Black Keys, fresh off their multiple Grammy Awards wins for the album Brothers, have announced plans for a summer tour of the US and Canada. The band will be joined for most of the dates by special guests Cage the Elephant and, for the first date in June, by Booker T. Jones, Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea. Fan pre-sale for the newly announced shows starts this Wednesday.

Wanda Jackson is set to kick off her months-long US tour in Philadelphia tonight, featuring music from her new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over. The Philadelphia Inquirer says the songs on the new album "are proof of a match made in heaven." The New York Times says Jackson "still sounds fantastic, and her gnarled, feisty vocals are a good fit with Mr. White’s scrappy production." The San Francisco Chronicle says Jackson "is, now and forever, the Queen of Rockabilly, and she shows it again and again on the album's 11 cuts." Seattle Weekly exclaims: "Holy damn, is this record a keeper."

Jessica Lea Mayfield plays three show run with the Avett Brothers ... John Adams conducts Juillliard Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, final Nixon in China performance at the Met ... Ben Folds kicks off Europe tour as Wanda Jackson concludes hers  ... The Black Keys play sold-out shows in Vegas ... Carolina Chocolate Drops in Alabama ... Kronos Quartet, Wu Man perform A Chinese Home ... Brad Mehldau joins Sofie von Otter at Carnegie Hall ... Randy Newman tours the Midwest ... Punch Brothers celebrate Chris Thile's 30th in Asheville ... Joshua Redman makes music in Moscow ... Dawn Upshaw returns to Saint Paul ... and more ...

Ben Folds kicks off the European leg of his 2011 world tour with a performance at Vicar Street in Dublin tonight, featuring music from his latest album, Lonely Avenue, a collaboration with English novelist Nick Hornby. After Saturday's stop in Birmingham, England, the tour heads to Hornby's hometown of London for a performance at the Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday. Time Out London recommends the show, calling Folds an artist "whose style suggests a Randy Newman for the iPod generation."

Randy Newman continues his US tour with two stops in the Midwest this weekend. Last weekend, Newman received a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for the film Toy Story 3. He's been nominated for an Academy Award for the song "We Belong Together" from the film and will perform it at the Oscars next weekend. Newman recently spoke about his scoring and songwriting on PBS's Tavis Smiley, which you can watch here.