Natalie Merchant recently stopped by the NPR studios in Washington, DC, to perform a Tiny Desk Concert for Bob Boilen and the staff at NPR and NPR Music. The intimate set included "Cowboy Romance," from her recent album Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings; "Texas," from her 2014 self-titled record; the title song to her album Motherland; and "Weeping Pilgrim," a Protestant hymn covered on The House Carpenter’s Daughter. For that last song, Merchant led the NPR staff in a sing-along for which Boilen suggests viewers "have a tissue handy." See why in the Tiny Desk Concert here. Merchant will join Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis in conversation at NYC's 92nd Street Y on February 10 and tours the US and Europe in March.

The five-part series celebrating the January 22 release of Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective and the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, continues. Today, we hear from conductor Andrey Boreyko, who led the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the premiere performance and Nonesuch recording of the new piece. "I hear these chorales bringing a very special atmosphere of concentrating on one’s own life," says Boreyko, "the lives of other people, things that happened, the meaning of it all, the afterlife, is there a light at the end of the tunnel or isn’t there? I believe this symphony as a whole is trying to answer this question as well." Watch the interview here.

Rhiannon Giddens was the subject of a feature profile on CBS Sunday Morning, looking at her life in music, as a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops; following her show-stopping performance at the Another Day, Another Time concert; and since the release of her Grammy-nominated solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn. "How often can you witness a moment that changes a career?" says Sunday Morning's Martha Teichner of the concert. "Giddens was like a musical explosion onstage. What happened next was like an explosion in her life." Watch it here.

The Nonesuch Journal continues its five-part video series marking the forthcoming release of Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective and the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, by hearing from Adrian Thomas, the author of the book Górecki and of the liner notes for the new recording. "What you get in this Fourth Symphony is pretty much the widest range of Henryk's character," says Thomas. "I think he had very broad interests in terms of what constitutes the mind, what constitutes the spirit, what constitutes the soul, and that can involve earthy things as well as ethereal things, and this is what you get in the Fourth Symphony." Watch the interview here.

Yesterday, the Nonesuch Journal began a five-part series of videos marking the forthcoming release of the seven-disc box set Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective with the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, on Friday, January 22. Today, Górecki’s son, composer Mikolaj, who completed Symphony No. 4 after his father’s death, discusses the piece; his relationship with his father as son and pupil; and his efforts to complete the piece after the precise indications for orchestration his father had left in the score.

Rhiannon Giddens helped ring in the New Year with a performance on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny. She gives her always show-stopping performance of "Waterboy" and of the Sister Rosetta Tharpe tune "Up Above My Head," from her solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn. The show aired in the UK on BBC Two on New Year's Eve. You can now watch Giddens's two performance here for a limited time. Giddens was a guest on BBC Radio Scotland's Another Country with Ricky Ross in advance of her European tour, which begins later this month.

Nonesuch Records releases Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective, a seven-disc box set containing all of the Nonesuch recordings of Górecki works, as well as the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, on January 22. That day also brings the first vinyl LP of the 1992 Nonesuch recording of Górecki’s Symphony No. 3. In advance of these releases, the Nonesuch Journal presents a series of related videos, starting today with a 1992 interview with the composer about his beloved Symphony No. 3. Watch it here, and check back in the days ahead for interviews with key players in the recording of Fourth and more.

Lake Street Dive has released a short video trailer for their forthcoming album, Side Pony, featuring music from the album's title track and a quick look inside the recording studio. The video was made by Matthew Beighley using Greg Liszt's footage from the album recording sessions at the Sound Emporium in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb. You can watch it here. Side Pony, Lake Street Dive's Nonesuch debut album, is due February 19 and is available to pre-order now.

The Staves have unveiled the official video for "Make It Holy," off their album If I Was. "We're excited to share a new video for 'Make It Holy,' put together by the gifted Lauren Josephine using Dan Huitings' footage from when we recorded the album at April Base Studios, in Wisconsin," says the trio of producer Justin Vernon's studio. "It brings back such happy memories for us and we hope you enjoy it, too." Watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens could be seen on televisions across the United States over the weekend. She performed "Cry No More" on Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America, a two-hour event airing on A&E Networks and iHeartRadio stations Friday night, and "Waterboy" on PBS's Austin City Limits special of highlights from the Americana Honors & Awards show on Saturday night. You can watch both performances here.

Junun, the new album from Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, and the Rajasthan Express, was released on Friday to critical acclaim. Also on Friday came the release on iTunes of Paul Thomas Anderson's film of the same name, which documents the recording of the album. Now comes an outtake from the film featuring the group's performance of the album track "Hu." The Observer, which gives the album four stars, says "the hypnotic 'Hu' locks into an almighty groove." See for yourself in the video here. 

Rokia Traoré's sixth album, Né So (Home), will be released by Nonesuch Records on February 12, 2016. The album was produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman), who also produced her 2013 record, Beautiful Africa. Né So features guest performances by John Paul Jones, Toni Morrison, and Traoré's labelmate Devendra Banhart, along with Burkinabe drummer Moïse Ouattara, Ivorian bassist Matthieu N'guessan, long-time collaborator Malian ngoni player Mamah Diabaté, guitarists Rodriguez Vangama and Stefano Pilia. The album, which features 10 original songs and a cover of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," is available to preorder with an instant downloaded of the title track. Traoré has released a video of that track, which you can watch here. She will tour in support of Né So this spring.