Randy Newman helped open this week's Democratic National Convention in Denver yesterday, performing for delegates at a pre-Convention kick-off event. The New York Times says of Randy: "He prefers to wield a lyrical scalpel rather than a hammer, and he blends humor and politics in ways few songwriters would dare." The Knoxville News Sentinel calls him "one of modern music's true treasures" and credits him with having written "some of the most viciously hilarious and biting songs of the past 100 years."

The Black Keys and Wilco play the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park ... John Adams leads Dutch premiere of his Doctor Atomic Symphony ... Philip Glass performs a benefit concert for the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur ... Cheikh Lô brings a James Brown tribute to New York City for a free Lincoln Center Out of Doors concert ... Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's Steve Reich Evening plays Göteborg Festival ... and more ...

Cheikh Lô is in the States this week, touring the country with Still Black, Still Proud: The African Tribute to James Brown. He joins musical director and band leader Pee Wee Ellis, known as "The Man Who Invented Funk" for his work with Brown; trombonist Fred Wesley Jr., another key player in Brown's band; Vieux Farka Touré; and a host of guest artists for the event. The US tour comes to New York City tonight for a free performance as part of Lincoln Center Out of Doors series.

Jonny Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver will receive its West Coast premiere tonight at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre. The composer included excerpts from the piece in his score for the Oscar-winning film There Will Be Blood, which you can listen to here. Tonight's concert also marks the San Francisco debut of New York's Wordless Music Series (helmed by Nonesuch's own Ronen Givony), which is presenting the concert and which gave the piece's US premiere in New York earlier this year.

Orchestra Baobab's most recent release, Made in Dakar, writes Paste magazine, is a "luminous new album that finds the group interpreting—with undiminished vitality—a mix of repertoire items and new tunes." The songs' "sound is effortlessly groovy and deliciously mature," says Paste, "the kind performed, as Baobab’s members do, with perfect vocal harmonies and coat-and-tie stage dignity," with the band's return to regular performances in Dakar  giving the new album "an in-the-moment energy."

Bill Frisell joined trumpeter Ron Miles's quartet last week for a three-night residency at the Jazz Standard in New York City that New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen says "confirmed the strength of their rapport," showcasing a partnership that goes "beyond sensitivity or even shared intuition." The pair's recording history includes Bill's latest Nonesuch release, History, Mystery. Bill performs again in the City in early September for a two-week residency at the Village Vanguard with Paul Motian and Joe Lovano. 

Wilco continues its US summer tour through the end of this week, playing its final Stateside gig of the tour at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Sunday. This past Monday, Wilco performed at the Red Butte Garden, which the Salt Lake Tribune calls "one of the best—if not the best—show of the summer." The band has also announced a string of dates this December supporting rocker Neil Young in Canada and the US.

Stephin Merritt and Laurie Anderson will each participate in the Talking Music series of conversations and performances from San Francisco's City Arts & Lectures, held at the Herbst Theatre. Stephin will open the season on September 11 in conversation and song hosted by Lemony Snicket author and fellow Gothic Archie Daniel Handler; Laurie will talk with music journalist Michael Azerrad for the season closer in April. In between are talks and performances by artists like Barbara Cook, Michael Tilson Thomas, Neko Case, and Okkervil River's Will Sheff.

John Adams's long-awaited memoir, Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life, is set for release in early October, and this week, The New Yorker has published an excerpt from the book in the article "Sonic Youth: A Composer Finds His Voice." In the magazine's podcast, John discusses the topic, from his early years as a composer in San Francisco through his 1981 breakout piece, Harmonium. In conjunction with the book's launch, Nonesuch will release a two-disc retrospective of the same name featuring some of his best-known works. Adams's latest opera, A Flowering Tree, is available for pre-order now.

Last week, Chris Thile joined Edgar Meyer for the bassist's annual Aspen Music Festival recital. The Aspen Times describes Meyer's playing as the sort that leads his fellow bass players to "just blink in wonder" and Thile as "a mandolin player with similarly amazing chops." The concert, which included several songs from the duo's debut album, out on Nonesuch next month, featured "several incandescent moments," reads the review, "when the two musicians’ technical skill and musical inventiveness combined to produce something unique."

Sam Phillips's latest album, Don't Do Anything, was welcomed with critical praise upon its release earlier this summer. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle adds to the kudos, calling her "a monument to artistic vision" in the mold of Tom Waits. The San Antonio Current also praises the new record, saying Sam's writing style "works beautifully, especially with the uncanny title track, one of the most remarkable love songs ever penned."

Ry Cooder talks to Rolling Stone about I, Flathead, the third in his "California trilogy." The magazine calls the album "light on flash, heavy on feeling." Ry also gives some insight into the forthcoming release of the live album Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall for the tenth anniversary of the group's performance at the Hall. "That was an amazing show," he says. "It has tremendous energy and verve but no aggression at all."