Seya, Oumou Sangare's first international release in six years, received its US release on Nonesuch earlier this year to great acclaim. Audiophile Audition adds its own praise with a five-star review. "[T]he album is a delicious stew of exotic sounds and rhythms that tickle the ears and stir the senses," says the review. "'Seya' means 'Joy,' and considering the beauty and exultation it evokes it is aptly named."

Alarm Will Sound will celebrate its recent Nonesuch debut, a/rhythmia, with a free album release party and listening event at New York City's (Le) Poisson Rouge on October 18. "Within three or four measures, the riot is in full swing," San Francisco Classical Voice says of the album. "This is totally engaging stuff ... tons of fun."

John Adams' latest recording on Nonesuch, Doctor Atomic Symphony, is out now. The Guardian describes the piece's final movement as Adams "at his most brilliant"; the Telegraph too commends the entire work's "sheer brilliance." The BBC says that David Robertson and the Saint Louis Orchestra "take a robustly muscular and rooted approach to Adams’ multi-layered, intricately woven latticework of sounds and colours leavened by flights of poetic fancy and fantasy ... music that seems fervently alive to both felt and imagined experience."

Chris Thile brings his Mandolin Concerto to the third city in as many weeks in a performance with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in Birmingham tonight. Thile joined the Oregon Symphony this past weekend for the West Coast premiere of the piece. The Oregonian called it "nothing less than a reinvention of the possibilities of his instrument" from the "mandolin wizard."

Paul Jacobs's 1970s recordings of Debussy's Preludes for Nonesuch have been added to The NPR Classical 50 list of essential recordings. On the show, critic Ted Libbey calls them "quite remarkable" and dubs Jacobs "the gold standard for the piano music of Debussy." Says Libbey of the Preludes: "What you hear is so extraordinary."

Shawn Colvin gave a trio of performances on the East Coast late last week, beginning with a set at Infinity Hall in Norfolk, Connecticut, that showed off her "quirky, thoughtful charm," says the Hartford Courant. Colvin "forged riveting moments" and "eased through a selection of tunes that brought out the luster in her singing."

Joshua Redman and his trio gave an Opening Night performance at the Indianapolis Jazz Festival earlier this month that All About Jazz calls "a brilliant start" to the festival, which ended yesterday. The set featured songs from Redman's latest Nonesuch release, Compass, review calls "another exquisite journey" from Redman.

Chris Thile gave the world premiere of his Mandolin Concerto with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jeffrey Kahane in Denver last night. The Denver Post, rather than view Thile through the lens of his past achievements, sees him "as an up-and-coming classical composer with almost unlimited potential." Even in that context, says the Post, the new piece "is nothing short of astounding."

Bill Frisell's latest Nonesuch release, Disfarmer, is out now. The Christian Science Monitor calls the album "a tour de force of jazz creativity by Bill Frisell," with the guitarist creating "a profoundly eerie merger of old-timey mountain music and jazz."

John Adams's recent Nonesuch release features the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Robertson performing the first recordings of Adams's Doctor Atomic Symphony and Guide to Strange Places. Jazz.com names the latter today's Song of the Day, saying: "This is the composer at his most mature, and demonstrating an uncanny skill in channeling his personality through a symphony orchestra." The Stranger's Christopher DeLaurenti calls it his "favorite orchestral work of this decade." The Philadelphia Inquirer gives the album 3.5 stars; the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, an A-.