Jessica Lea Mayfield's Tell Me tops the Los Angeles Times list of the best records released so far in 2011. "The British-born Adele may be getting all the attention for her merging of soul, rock, r&b and country," says the Times, "but another young singer, Jessica Lea Mayfield, has released an equally assured Muscle Shoals-inspired soul album ... Mayfield’s ability to capture private vignettes and draw them with unguarded honesty makes Tell Me essential listening. It’s rough and honest, strong but also delicate and vulnerable." Mayfield is set to launch her US summer tour next week and has added several new dates through September.

The 38th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival took place this past weekend, and among the highlights were "the dove-like voice of country legend Emmylou Harris and the sharp wit and ridiculous talent of Chris Thile," says Reverb; a "pick-off" launched by The Decemberists with Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, and Punch Brothers' Noam Pikelny; and a Punch Brothers set that provided what Reverb calls "one of the fest’s most charming musical moments." For photos, visit nonesuch.com/media.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang kicked off their North American tour at the Rochester Jazz Festival last week, followed by a free outdoor concert at Toronto's Luminato Festival; the tour lands at New York City's Beacon Theatre tonight. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle says lang's "voice was potent from the get-go." The Toronto Sun gives the Luminato set four-and-a-half stars, calling lang's voice "one of the world’s best." The Independent says lang's new album, Sing it Loud, is "an elegant, understated LP that contains nods to the singer's country-pop roots and brims with warmth and contentment."

The Black Keys' Saturday Night Live performance re-airs; band plays Canada's MMVA ... Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer staged in St. Louis ... Laurie Anderson is in Israel ... Timothy Andres, Philip Glass perform at NYC's Bang on a Can Marathon ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play Chattanooga ... Richard Goode leads Marlboro Music Festival ... Emmylou Harris, Chris Thile & Michael Daves, Punch Brothers, Sara Watkins play Telluride Bluegrass Festival ... Wanda Jackson takes the Mountain Stage ... James Farm sets up at NYC's Jazz Standard ... k.d. lang offers free show to Toronto ... The Low Anthem plays Clearwater Festival ... Dawn Upshaw performs at Ojai North! ... and more ...

James Farm kicked off its four-night residency at New York's Jazz Standard last night with two stellar sets featuring songs from their self-titled debut album. The band stopped by WNYC's Soundcheck earlier this week to discuss and perform songs off the new record. You can listen to the segment and watch the band perform "Polliwog" in a video from the show here. You can also listen to a bonus web exclusive performance from the session of "Bijoux."

The 38th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival got under way yesterday 8,750 feet up in bucolic Telluride, Colorado. The music-making continues through the weekend with sets to come from Chris Thile and Michael Daves, Emmylou Harris, and Punch Brothers, plus Sara Watkins sits in with the Decemberists as part of her ongoing tour with the group.

John Adams’s latest Nonesuch album pairs his Son of Chamber Symphony with his String Quartet. The album receives four stars from the Times of London, which calls it "polished and vibrant"; the Guardian, which says that “both works are given exactly the kind of high-octane performances that Adams's instrumental music demands"; and MusicOMH, which calls it “a fine pair of works to complete the next chapter in Adams’ considerable recorded legacy.” Adams's 1991 opera The Death of Klinghoffer is also receiving praise in its new production at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Emmylou Harris kicks off her North American spring and summer tour with a return to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado, tonight. The tour will feature songs from Harris's recent Nonesuch release, Hard Bargain, as well as favorites from throughout her career. The tour includes several festival sets like the Dave Matthew Band Caravan, Newport Folk Festival, and Canada's Harvest Picnic; an Austin City Limits Live performance; a show with the Levon Helm Band in New York's Central Park; and stops at more than a dozen indoor and outdoor venues across the US.

The Guardian and Observer have published their list of the 50 key events in the history of world and folk music, which includes four events that also have a direct link to the history of Nonesuch Records, events involving Ry Cooder and the Buena Vista Social Club, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, Youssou N'Dour, and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, and one that would later impact Kronos Quartet.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang kick off their North American tour at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York, tonight for the 2011 Rochester Jazz Festival. "k.d. lang's voice hovers in the twilight somewhere between heartache and desire," says the Rochester City Newspaper, citing her voice's "elastic range, creamy tone, power, and seduction," and calling her "one of the finest crooners of this generation." Spinner spoke with lang and says her new album, Sing it Loud, "easily stands up amongst her best." Tune in to NYC's WFUV 90.7 FM tonight to hear lang and the band, and watch a video from that session here.

Pat Metheny's new album, What's It All About, includes Metheny's solo-guitar take on the Beatles classic "And I Love Her." The video, which premiered on MSN yesterday, is now available here. "The Beatles were huge for me," Metheny says. "Without them, I don't know if I even would have become a musician or a guitar player ... It is kind of impossible to imagine doing a record like this without including at least one Beatles song."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves's debut duo album, Sleep with One Eye Open, released last month on Nonesuch, is available for just $3.99 at Amazon for today only. The album track "My Little Girl in Tennessee" is also available for free as Amazon's Free Song of the Day. Thile and Daves are in Colorado this weekend to perform at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, as is Thile's band Punch Brothers.