Last Wednesday, Nicholas Payton performed in what the Associate Press calls one of "the most exciting sets" at the seventh and final Jammy Awards, honoring the best in improvised music. Payton recently spoke with All About Jazz contributor R. J. DeLuke about his career and the making of his newly released Nonesuch debut, Into the Blue, which the site says shows the trumpeter "as a thoughtful composer and a player who pays as much attention to his sound as his plentiful technique."

The Black Keys kick off the next leg of their Attack & Release tour tonight in Washington, DC, for the first of two sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club. Tomorrow night's set will be broadcast live on NPR's All Songs Considered. Pat and Dan head next to New York City for a performance Wednesday night on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, followed by a sold-out show Thursday night at Terminal 5.

The Black Keys played a MySpace Secret Show last night at Cleveland's Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, the site of their first-ever show six years ago, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Akron-based duo is "white-hot" following the release of Attack & Release, their "lushest" album yet.

"There is a paucity of quality female vocalists in the music charts today," writes the New Zealand Herald in a review of k.d. lang's performance last night at Auckland's Aotea Centre. While there is certainly no lack of pop starlets, says the review, for quality, "one woman stands alone." That would be k.d., who "enraptured the audience with her remarkable vocal range." Her live performance of tunes from Watershed was "pitch-perfect and soulful."

Just a reminder for fans of The Black Keys within getting-to distance of Cleveland: the band will play a MySpace Secret Show tonight at Cleveland's Beachland Tavern, the site of the first-ever Black Keys gig. For the rest of us, Pat and Dan gave an interview to MTVu's Backstage Pass and answer a few all-important questions from some college fans.

Bill Frisell introduced his new quintet to European audiences at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival on Sunday, and, writes The Times, it was "the highlight" of the four-star event. The Telegraph says Frisell offered his trademark "beautifully shaped lick," bringing the set into focus with his "favourite territory of musical Americana, with blues and bluegrass and Miles Davis alongside Frisell's own compositions." All About Jazz says Bill "comes up trumps again" with his new album. "It's a delight of the first order."

Kronos Quartet was joined by Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq at Disney Hall in Los Angeles Saturday for a night of premieres. The Los Angeles Times writes: "The playing all evening was passionate and superb. If ever an ensemble has found a fountain of youth, it is this one." Variety says that "even after three decades of continuous activity, the Kronos Quartet continues to come up with fresh ideas from out of the blue." As examples, he points both to Saturday's program and the group's recording of The Cusp of Magic.