John Adams’s Saxophone Concerto received its US premiere over the weekend, with Marin Alsop conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and saxophonist Timothy McAllister, for whom the "virtuosic piece" (Washington Post) was written. The Baltimore Sun says "the score deftly fuses classical and jazz elements to create a cohesive, arresting experience ... Adams, whose style has evolved over the decades from pristine minimalism to a kind of post-Mahler richness of thematic ideas and orchestral textures, has created here a kinetic, ecstatic ride that achieves giddy heights along the way." McAllister performs the Saxophone Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on October 5 and 6.

Bombino, currently on tour in the US, was the guest on NPR's World Cafe yesterday, performing two tracks off his Dan Auerbach-produced Nonesuch debut album, Nomad. "Bombino's explosively exciting desert-guitar sound somehow fit perfectly with Auerbach's rock/funk/kitchen-sink aesthetic," says the show of Nomad, "making for an album that's both thrilling and hypnotic." Rolling Stone has named Bombino an Artist to Watch, calling him "electrifying." The magazine includes Nomad on its Best Albums of 2013 Mid-Year Report, exclaiming: "Meet your new guitar hero." Los Angeles Times does too, declaring it "perfect."

Joshua Redman is "a musician of such intelligence and energy, who is so adaptable, that he easily finds a way to make himself at home in any given musical surrounding," writes All About Jazz in a review of his new album, Walking Shadows. "As such, Redman is perfectly suited to performing with large ensembles," as he does on the new album, a "riveting collection" and "an emotionally charged, wonderfully seamless slow burn of an album that is a great work of art." 

Bombino, who is currently touring the US with his "electrifying" show (A.V. Club), has made NPR Music's list of its 25 Favorite Albums of the Year (So Far) for his Nonesuch debut album, Nomad. "Full of undeniably hypnotic trance-guitar music, and produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, Nomad rocks like no other record this year," writes NPR Music's Bob Boilen. "Hearing Bombino in any American nightclub, the reaction is ecstasy and complete connection ... It's blues, it's trance and it's psychedelic in its repetition. Oh, and did I mention it rocks?" Bombino tells New York magazine: "There are two kinds of music in the desert. If it makes you want to listen to it, it’s the blues. If it makes you want to move, it’s rock.”

Joshua Redman performed songs from his new album, Walking Shadows, at New York's Town Hall on Tuesday with the album's core ensemble—Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Brian Blade—and the chamber orchestra The Knights. The New York Times' Nate Chinen says the event "was, objectively speaking, a special night," exclaiming: "Mr. Redman has always been a fluid technician, but the inner glow in his tone throughout the night, along with the grace and clarity of his ideas, suggested new levels of prowess." 

Joshua Redman performs music from his new album, Walking Shadows, with its core ensemble, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, and Brian Blade, along with the orchestra The Knights, at The Town Hall in NYC on Tuesday. "Melody is always paramount for the saxophonist Joshua Redman, to a degree that sets him apart from his postbop peers," says the New York Times. "Still, there hasn’t been a more sublimely lyrical gesture in his 20-year recording career than Walking Shadows, an album that sets his tenor and soprano against a string orchestra, in tremulous but thoughtful new arrangements." London's Wigmore Hall has announced the 2013-14 season of its jazz series curated by Redman, who performs in two of the four concerts. 

Devendra Banhart, who is currently touring North America performing songs from his recently released Nonesuch Records debut album, Mala, was featured on Morning Becomes Eclectic out of KCRW in Santa Monica, CA, last Friday. The session, which was recording during the California leg of the tour earlier in May, includes intimate in-studio performances by Banhart and his band of a number of songs from the new album. Watch the set here. The tour continues into Montreal, Toronto, Boston, DC, and Philadelphia, before concluding at The Town Hall in New York City on June 12.

Pat Metheny’s recording of John Zorn’s Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20 from Zorn’s Masada Book Two was released yesterday on Nonesuch Records and Tzadik. The album was featured on NPR's All Things Considered last night. "Metheny takes what's on the page and goes to work conjuring," says NPR's Tom Moon. "The result is an ornate, stunningly vivid sound world that neither artist would have found on his own." Listen to the complete All Things Considered review here.

Sam Amidon, who is currently touring Europe in support of his new album, Bright Sunny South, has performed the album track "As I Roved Out," for The Line of Best Fit. On the new album, Amidon delves "further in compelling expressions that draw jazz and folk influences together to an entirely unique place," says the site. Watch that performance and his recent set for ABC Radio in Australia, which has named Bright Sunny South its Album of the Week. The Daily Telegraph and Irish Times give the album four stars.

Pat Metheny’s recording of John Zorn’s Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20 from Zorn’s Masada Book Two is out now, their first collaboration. The New York Times calls it "audacious ... an impressive feat of imagination, and a strikingly clear distillation of both artists’ distinctive languages." The Independent says it's "dazzlingly virtuosic and evocative." All About Jazz calls it "a suite of half a dozen cinematic pieces, some of truly epic proportions ... the work of an artist who is doing anything but resting on his considerable laurels and accomplishments."

Audra McDonald’s first solo album in seven years—Go Back Home—is out now. The album features songs by composers with whom she has long been associated (Adam Guettel, Michael John LaChiusa, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim) and some, like the Kander & Ebb title track, relatively new to her repertoire; in addition, McDonald continues to champion works by an emerging generation of composers. New York exclaims: "It's entirely possible that Audra McDonald is the greatest singer alive." The New York Times, which describes her concert for this Friday's Live From Lincoln Center on PBS as "absolutely thrilling," visited McDonald to capture an intimate performance of Guettel's "Migratory V," which you can watch here.

Sam Amidon makes his Nonesuch Records debut with today's release of his new album, Bright Sunny South. The album receives four stars from the Guardian, Mojo, Q, Blurt, and musicOMH, which notes "his wonderfully rich, expressive voice." Drowned in Sound calls it his "most emotionally and tonally complex LP to date ... Amidon has taken a huge step forward as a folk artist, creating arrangements which preserve his musicianship, while deepening the maturity of his interpretive skills." Scripps Howard Newsire says the "transcendent" opening track "sets the tone."