Pat Metheny begins a US tour with drummer Antonio Sánchez, pianist Gwilym Simcock, and bassist Linda Oh with Opening Night/Week concerts of SFJAZZ Center's 2016–17 concert season, tonight and through the weekend. They perform five more shows in California, including a concert at UCLA's Royce Hall and a set at the Monterey Jazz Festival; two in Colorado; a stop in Kansas; and two in Metheny's home state of Missouri. The musicians will tour the East Coast in early 2017.

Lianne La Havas kicks off her US fall tour with a headline show at Webster Hall in NYC tonight. It's one of four headline shows she will play this fall—also including LA, New Orleans, and Atlanta—while in the US for an 18-concert tour as special guest of R&B artist and singer, songwriter Leon Bridges. Their first show together is this Thursday at the Flynn Center in Burlington, VT, followed by shows throughout the country in the month ahead.

Brazilian samba singer Teresa Cristina's album and DVD Canta Cartola is out now. Recorded live in concert at Theatro Net in Rio de Janeiro with guitarist Carlinhos Sete Cordas, it captures their acoustic performance of songs by Brazil's beloved samba-ist Angenor de Oliveira ("Cartola"). "Canta Cartola feels fully embodied," says the New York Times, "as if Ms. Cristina had written the songs herself." Today also marks the start of her eight-city world tour with Caetano Veloso, who exclaims: "Teresa develops every melody, every word, every second. It's magical."

John Adams leads Swiss premiere of Scheherazade.2 in Geneva with violinist Leila Josefowicz … Devendra Banhart plays two European festival sets … Emmylou Harris plays free set in Nashville ... Lake Street Dive join Dave Matthews Band in Washington State … Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana, John Scofield play Detroit Jazz Festival … Pat Metheny, Christian McBride lead Tokyo residency … Steve Reich is focus of BBC Proms … Caetano Veloso, Teresa Cristina launch tour in Paris … and more …

Sam Amidon will return to Australia in February 2017 for an eleven-concert tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) and Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto. On the program, titled Murder & Redemption, the ACO will perform Janáček's Kreutzer Sonata and John Adams's Shaker Loops. Interweaved throughout will be arrangements of traditional folk songs—murder ballads and songs of salvation—that Amidon has re-written and will sing; Pekka and the ACO will perform arrangements Nico Muhly has written to accompany the songs. The concerts follow Amidon's October US tour with Richard Thompson.

Conor Oberst, whose new album, Ruminations, is due October 14, will perform songs from the album on tour in Europe in early 2017. The intimate solo tour begins with a performance at Postpalast in Munich on January 17, followed by stops in Stuttgart, Vienna, Zurich, Cologne, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris, Utrecht, Brussels, London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Dublin. The shows follow Oberst's US tour this autumn.

Kronos Quartet tours Europe, from Slovakia to Spain ... The Arcs play a free show in Montauk ... Lake Street Dive continues its Side Pony tour in Colorado, at Red Rocks and Steamboat Springs ... Conor Oberst is in Colorado too, headlining the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival ...Punch Brothers perform at Children's Cancer Association benefit in Oregon ... and more ...

Emmylou Harris will tour North America this fall with special guests Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, and The Milk Carton Kids (not all artists will appear at all venues). The 11-stop tour, Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees, will raise awareness for the unprecedented worldwide refugee crisis. Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS) will host this singer/songwriter tour in support of the organization's Global Education Initiative. "After witnessing firsthand the work of JRS in Ethiopia this past June, I have never been more inspired to champion such a critical cause," said Harris. "The better angels of our nature call upon us to act with compassion and not with fear in the face of so much suffering."

Sam Amidon and The Staves perform at the Eaux Claires Festival in Wisconsin … Laurie Anderson takes her Concert for Dogs to the Hamptons … Emmylou Harris concludes tour with Lyle Lovett at Wolf Trap, joins Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Biltmore … Lake Street Dive heads for the mountain states … Punch Brothers conclude Australia tour in Sydney, Melbourne … and more …

Devendra Banhart plays OFF Festival in Katowice, Poland … Jeremy Denk joins Britt Orchestra for Brahms in Oregon … Emmylou Harris is in Idaho, Montana … Lake Street Dive conquers Kansas City … Punch Brothers conclude Blue Note Tokyo residency … Steve Reich’s The Desert Music is performed at Sydney Opera House … The Staves play Edmonton Folk Music Festival … Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil perform at the Opening Ceremony of Rio Olympic Games … and more …

The legendary Brazilian singers, songwriters, and guitarists Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil will perform at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro at the Maracanã Stadium this Friday, August 5. The ceremony will be broadcast around the world and can be seen in the US on NBC starting at 7:30 PM ET. Nonesuch released a live two-disc recording from Veloso and Gil—Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música: Multishow Live—earlier this year, celebrating a lifelong friendship over the half-century careers of two artists who hold key roles in developing and keeping Brazilian popular music vibrant and alive around the world.

Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields will lead a two-week residency at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA, that culminates in the world premiere of a staged performance of the forthcoming Nonesuch Records album 50 Song Memoir, an album celebrating Merritt's first half-century on the planet, November 18 and 19. Following the premiere, the Magnetic Fields perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December, Royce Hall in LA in April, and Moore Theatre in Seattle in May.