“We have this tendency to group ourselves, but then we also have this ability—through music, through dance, through food—to come together and make something new,” Rhiannon Giddens says on the PBS mini-series The Articulate Hour hosted by Jim Cotter. The episode delves into humans' contrasting needs for community and solitude and includes a conversation with Giddens and performances by her and Francesco Turrisi. You can watch it here, along with the second episode of her own PBS series My Music with Rhiannon Giddens, with guest Allison Russell.

Molly Tuttle stopped by Garden & Gun in Charleston to perform a Back Porch Session for the magazine. She is joined by Golden Highway band member Kyle Tuttle on banjo to perform “Where Did All the Wild Things Go?,” from their upcoming album, City of Gold, and three songs from their Grammy-winning debut album, Crooked Tree: the title track, “Dooley’s Farm,” and “Over the Line.” You can watch it here.

The new series My Music with Rhiannon Giddens premiered on PBS stations across the US this week. In the inaugural episode, Rhiannon Giddens visits with three lifelong friends: Justin Robinson, one of her fellow Carolina Chocolate Drops co-founders; her sister, singer Lalenja Harrington; and singer-songwriter Laurelyn Dossett. You can watch it here.

Tigran Hamasyan’s StandArt, his first album of American standards, was released one year ago. To mark the anniversary, the pianist/composer has shared Night Odyssey, a short film by his sister Melanya Hamasyan that begins and ends with the album track “I Should Care,” written by Alex Stordahl, Paul Weston, and Sammy Cahn. He is joined on the track by trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. You can watch it here.

Grammy Award–winning singer, songwriter, and musician Molly Tuttle and her band, Golden Highway, will release their new album, City of Gold, July 21, on Nonesuch. You can watch the video for the album track “El Dorado” here. Produced by Tuttle and Jerry Douglas and recorded in Nashville, City of Gold was inspired by Tuttle’s near constant touring with Golden Highway and their growth together as musicians and performers, cohering as a band. These 13 tracks—mostly written by Tuttle and Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show)—capture the electric energy of the band’s live shows by highlighting each member’s musical strengths. City of Gold also features special guest Dave Matthews on the song “Yosemite.” Tuttle and Golden Highway will tour through this summer.

Multi-instrumentalist Yussef Dayes will release his highly anticipated debut solo studio album, Black Classical Music, September 8.Dayes’ drum licks and Rocco Palladino’s bass are the anchors to this nineteen-track debut solo studio album, with Charlie Stacey (keys/synths), Venna (saxophone), Alexander Bourt (percussion), and a host of features including: Chronixx, Masego, Jamilah Barry, Tom Misch, Elijah Fox, Shabaka Hutchings, Miles James, Sheila Maurice Grey, Nathaniel Cross, Theon Cross, and the Chineke! Orchestra—the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians. You can watch the video for the title track, featuring Venna & Charlie Stacey, here.

To commemorate Earth Day, Hurray for the Riff Raff has released a digital deluxe version of their acclaimed 2022 Nonesuch debut. Along with the album's original eleven songs, the deluxe edition has seven additional tracks, three of which are previously unreleased: an acoustic version of "POINTED AT THE SUN" and two originals from the Life on Earth sessions, "LET HER IN THE SKY" and "RESISTANCE ROCKERS," the Kelly Gallagher–directed video for which can be seen here.

Natalie Merchant has released the video for "Big Girls," a song from her new album, Keep Your Courage. The song is one of two duets on the album sung with vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis of Resistance Revival Chorus, along with "Come on, Aphrodite." That video and the new video for "Big Girls," which you can watch here, were directed by Matthew Shattuck. Merchant's tour continues with shows in Pennsylvania and Virginia this week. 

Natalie Merchant has released "Tower of Babel," a new song from her upcoming album, Keep Your Courage, due April 14 on Nonesuch. You can watch a video for the song, the second from the album to be directed by Matthew Shattuck, here. Nonesuch Store Keep Your Courage pre-orders before Monday, April 3, include access to an exclusive virtual pre-release listening event next Thursday, April 6, via FlyMachine featuring songs from the new album and a conversation between Natalie Merchant and Carmel Holt.

Tigran Hamasyan performed for ARTE’s Piano Day Concert in celebration of the international day honoring the instrument. For this solo recital, filmed in Opéra Comique’s Salle Bizet in Paris on March 8, Hamasyan performs songs from throughout his repertoire, including his 2017 album, An Ancient Observer, and his 2018 EP, For Gyumri. You can watch it here.

“One of the most majestic and stunning singers on the current scene,” TSF Jazz host Jean-Charles Doukhan says of Cécile McLorin Salvant, his guest on Deli Express, in translation from the French. “Each of her albums is a masterstroke. And each of her concerts is a powerful and unforgettable experience.” Of her new album, Mélusine, he exclaims: “As always, brilliant!” You can watch Salvant’s performance of the album track “Le temps est assassin” in the TSF Jazz studio with Glenn Zaleski on piano and Keita Ogawa on percussion here.

Natalie Merchant has released the video for “Come On, Aphrodite,” the new single, featuring singer Abena Koomson-Davis of Resistance Revival Chorus, from Merchant's upcoming album, Keep Your Courage, due April 14. You can watch the video, directed by Matthew Shattuck in Brooklyn, here. Merchant will tour the US this spring and autumn and has just announced a November tour of Europe, with shows in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin, Bath, Amsterdam, and Brussels.