Congratulations to Brad Mehldau, who received the prestigious Edison Jazz Music Award (the Dutch Grammy) in the Jazz International category for his latest Nonesuch release, his Trio's Live recording from New York's Village Vanguard. At the ceremony, held at the Frits Philipshall in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on November 28, Brad performed Lennon/McCartney's "Martha My Dear," which the Trio recording on their 2005 Nonesuch album, Day Is Done.

The Glass Box, the new 10-CD Nonesuch retrospective of works by Philip Glass, is recommended in The Republican, out of Western Massachusetts,  among "the more notable box sets" of the year, describing it as "one of the most innovative of this year and certainly one of the most musically fascinating." Glass has also announced the initial line-up for his annual Tibet House Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall in February. Slated to perform are Vampire Weekend, Patti Smith, and The National.

The Grammy nominations are in, and a big congratulations goes out to the many Nonesuch artists whose work has been recognized by the Recording Academy, the organization behind the awards. Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Toumani Diabaté, Youssou N'Dour, Stephen Sondheim, Jonny Greenwood, and Isabel Bayrakdarian were all recognized for their recent Nonesuch releases, as were producers Danger Mouse and Judith Sherman for their work on Nonesuch albums this year.

To celebrate Elliott Carter’s 100th birthday, Nonesuch will release Elliott Carter: A Nonesuch Retrospective, a four-disc set, in February 2009. The discs include most of the recordings Nonesuch made of Carter’s music between 1968 and 1985, with performances by such acclaimed musicians as Paul Jacobs, Gilbert Kalish, the Composers Quartet, Jan DeGaetani, Fred Sherry, Arthur Weisberg, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine; plus a 58-page booklet with photos, score examples, texts, an essay by Paul Griffiths, and tributes by musicians and composers.

Steve Reich's complete musical archive has been acquired by the Paul Sacher Foundation, a research center for contemporary music, with a vast collection of estates from leading composers and performers. The composer's working papers, comprising letters, sound recordings, manuscripts, along with his many audio and program files, will soon be made accessible to scholars at the Foundation's headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.

As was just announced, Amadou & Mariam’s new album, Welcome to Mali, will be released in the US this March. It was released last month in the UK to great critical acclaim, taking the top spot on Metacritic's as the year's best-reviewed album. The Observer named it the CD of the Week, describing it as "consistently banging; busily upbeat and lushly-produced." Both Observer Music Monthly and Uncut give the album a perfect five stars; Pitchfork gives it an 8.4 and concludes: "'Inevitable' is a pretty good word for the stardom of Amadou & Mariam. People this amazingly talented and open to new sounds and ideas rarely remain obscure, especially after so many years honing their craft and building their catalog."

Tonight marks the start of New York City–based singer/songwriter Christina Courtin's December residency at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. She'll perform tonight and each of the following two Tuesdays at the Williamsburg venue. The sets are free and begin at 9 PM. Christina was recently signed to Nonesuch Records, and her label debut is set for release some time next year.
 

The singer Mariam Doumbia and her husband, the guitarist/vocalist Amadou Bagayoko, have been making music together since they first met and fell in love at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, Mali’s capital, three decades ago. They now perform to crowds of thousands (often tens of thousands) in cities worldwide. Three years in the making, Amadou & Mariam’s new album, Welcome to Mali, has been released in the UK and is being embraced as enthusiastically as its predecessor, the Grammy-nominated Dimanche à Bamako. Because Music / Nonesuch Records releases Welcome to Mali in the US on March 24, 2009.

John Adams's A Flowering Tree and Kronos Quartet's The Cusp of Magic have been named among NPR's Top 10 classical CDs of 2008, the latter a seamless blend of Eastern and Western influences, the former demonstrating the power of Adams's "imaginative musical language." Audiophile Audition gives A Flowering Tree five stars and exclaims: "John Adams has produced a masterwork." With this "shimmering soundscape," Adams has written "some of the most purely gorgeous music of recent years," all captured on this "beautifully recorded" album. "Most strongly recommended!"

The 1997 Buena Vista Social Club recording was, according to All About Jazz, "brimming with magic and full of songs from the vast trove of musical treasures with which Cuba is plentiful." The group's unforgettable performance at Carnegie Hall the following year "remains the pinnacle of the Buena Vista project," and now, with the newly released recording, it is available "for everyone who was there to remember, and everyone else to enjoy ... The music throughout Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall is a deep pleasure: melodic and full of warmth."

With Black Friday thankfully behind us and so-called Cyber Monday now upon us, the Schenectady Daily Gazette offers a number of "gift-worthy recordings" out this year, including six Nonesuch recordings: Isabel Bayrakdarian's "sublime" Gomidas Songs, Ry Cooder's I, Flathead, Emmylou Harris's All I Intended to Be, Randy Newman's Harps and Angels, Orchestra Baobab's Made in Dakar, and Rokia Traoré's "haunting and heart-lifting" Tchamantché.

"Exuberance and wisdom find equal expression in the music of Youssou N'Dour, the Senegalese singer, songwriter and ambassador," writes the New York Times in its recommendation of the Great African Ball, Youssou's all-night musical celebration in New York City. It runs tonight and tomorrow night and, says the Times, "is likely to be one of the year’s great musical events." The Village Voice also recommends this "mbalax marathon" for the ecstatic live set from "the continent's most inventive and internationally renowned musician."