Bill Frisell begins a five-night residency at New York's Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen tonight. It was at the Vanguard that the trio recorded the "East" half of Frisell's 2005 double disc, East/West. Frisell was a central figure in the recent Melbourne International Jazz Festival, playing an "unforgettable" festival closer with the Trio, says The Age. "[I]t was a thrill to see such an influential, genre-defying artist on stage. Frisell has one of the most distinctive guitar sounds: a sound that radiates warmth and optimism, no matter how woozily dissonant or distorted it may become."

Allen Toussaint was in Las Vegas this past weekend performing at the city's free Jazz in the Park series and performs a week's residency at New York's Village Vanguard next week, joined by most of the musicians off his recently released solo Nonesuch debut, The Bright Mississippi. "Allen Toussaint's new album couldn't sound more like New Orleans," says the Boston Globe. The pianist "revisits jazz classics ... and takes them for a stroll through Preservation Hall, imbuing his own funky brand of pop-song charisma." Throughout, "Toussaint's musical soul guides all, making the classics sound like his own." The St. Petersburg Times gives it an A; the Lexington Herald Leader calls it "sublime."

John Adams is in Los Angeles this week to conduct a series of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall. On tap are two performances, the orchestra's first, of Adams's latest opera, A Flowering Tree, with its original cast of singers, this Friday and Sunday, plus a concert Tuesday, pairing his Son of Chamber Symphony with works by two young composer/performers. The LAist chooses the performances for its Classical Pick of the Week.

Björk, Dirty Projectors premiere new music at sold-out NY benefit ... Adams's work joins Beethoven's in Winnipeg Ballet piece ... Laurie Anderson brings Burning Leaves to Berlin ... Bill Frisell Trio continues at the Cotton Club in Tokyo ... Philip Glass talks art, Buddhism for benefit event ... Richard Goode plays Bach, Chopin in intimate NYC space ... Kronos plays German jazz fest, join Wu Man at the Barbican ... Brad Mehldau Trio continues sold-out residency at the Vanguard ... Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone play two weeks in Cleveland ... Punch Brothers play PA Renaissance Faire ... Allen Toussaint offers a free set in Vegas ... Dawn Upshaw, Osvaldo Golijov, oversee Carnegie Hall workshop concerts ... Sara Watkins makes way to Windy City ... and more ...

Allen Toussaint, fresh off the heels of his New Orleans JazzFest performances, is set to play a free outdoor performance in Las Vegas Saturday night. The New York Daily News writes of his solo Nonesuch debut, The Bright Mississippi: "It's a marvel on every level ... The feel for New Orleans music offered on the CD defies every garish cliché of the region, epitomizing instead a subtlety and dignity that have marked Toussaint's music from the start." All About Jazz calls it "a rich and multi-layered CD ... Toussaint, with producer Joe Henry, has crafted a sound that is modern yet traditional, jazzy yet funky, soulful yet pristine and completely elegant." The Ottawa Citizen gives it four stars, exclaiming: "It's a killer."

The Brad Mehldau Trio returned to the Village Vanguard in New York's Greenwich Village this past Tuesday for the first in a five-night residency of a dozen sold-out sets. "[T]here was looseness in his first set on Tuesday night, along with variety and depth of feeling," says the New York Times. "Mr. Mehldau conveyed a spruce informality, mixing impulse with erudition." By set's end, "His sound, completely luminous, filled the room." The Chicago Tribune calls last Friday's Trio performance at that city's Symphony Center "delightful," exclaiming that Mehldau's "collaboration with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard reaffirmed one's belief in the enduring viability of the jazz trio."

Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish performed at Boston's Jordan Hall on Sunday afternoon, in what the Boston Globe calls a "memorable" recital. "She is, indisputably, a great singer, with a voice that radiates power and unforced warmth," says the Globe. "But her secret weapon is a casual, unpretentious demeanor that lessens the distance between stage and audience. Listeners in her presence experience music not as the inaccessible product of a holy art but as a thing of open, approachable beauty." Later this month, Nonesuch will reissue, as MP3 albums, exclusively in the Nonesuch Store, five recordings of the Haydn piano sonatas Kalish made for the label between 1975 and 1980.

Today marks the release of Richard Goode's first-ever recording of the complete Beethoven piano concertos, with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and conductor Iván Fischer. In a perfect five-star review of the recording, the Financial Times declares it a "landmark recording of the Beethoven concertos." The review continues: "Goode makes the familiar sound unexpectedly fresh. He plays without mannerism, without stylistic quirks, without making anything sound predictable." Goode performs solo works by Bach and Chopin tonight at Carnegie Hall.

The Brad Mehldau Trio sets up shop tonight for a five-night residency at New York's Village Vanguard, the site of the group's most recent recordings, Live  and the Nonesuch Store exclusive MP3 collection Live: The Complete Friday Night Sets. The New York Times says that Live shows that the pianist's "peerless trio ... has the glide to elevate just about anything, including Mr. Mehldau’s savvy originals." The Village Voice declares: "Hard to beat a mix of killer chops and songbook savvy." The Guardian gives four stars to Brad's recent Wigmore Hall solo performance, calling him "the doyen of contemporary jazz pianists, an improviser whose instinctive, emotional command of the instrument is complemented by a formidable intellect."

Richard Goode's recording of all five Beethoven piano concertos with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and conductor Iván Fischer, is set for release on Nonesuch this week. The New York Times examines both the new set and Goode's earlier recordings in an in-depth look at the pianist's career and his extensive history with the label, describing it as "a long and productive affiliation ... that any musician would envy." Even in an earlier time when such relationships were perhaps less rare, "Mr. Goode would have stood out for his fastidious musicianship, infallible fingers, warming spirit and vital connection to the living traditions set down by his predecessors."

Allen Toussaint helped close the 40th anniversary New Orleans JazzFest "on an upbeat note" yesterday, says USA Today. NPR's Fresh Air says that "Toussaint sounds as eternal as New Orleans" on his recent Nonesuch release, The Bright Mississippi. "Whether he's reworking Ellington, Bechet or Reinhardt, Toussaint infuses the numbers with his own elegant funk, particularly evident in his piano work, never so varied and flowing." The Observer says the pianist and his band "dip into the New Orleans fountain of jazz youth" on the album, and "Toussaint's own piano rolls along as ornately and authentically as ever.

Allen Toussaint, "a one-man repository of New Orleans music" (Paste), plays big finish of Big Easy's JazzFest ... Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed perform at ICA Boston benefit, PEN Cabaret ... Toumani Diabaté plays Portland, ME, and Middletown, CT ... Bill Frisell headlines the Melbourne Jazz Festival ... Emmylou Harris, Kate & Anna McGarrigle celebrate Pete Seeger's 90th at MSG ... Fred Hersch heads three sets in Baltimore ... k.d. lang honors Women in the Arts at Kennedy Center gala ... Brad Mehldau is in the Midwest ... Joshua Redman Trio plays a set in Sydney ... Dawn Upshaw joins Gilbert Kalish at Jordan Hall ... Sara Watkins wows Woodstock ... and more ...