Congratulations to Sérgio and Odair Assad, whose most recent Nonesuch release, Jardim Abandonado has just been nominated for two Latin Grammy awards: Best Classical Album and Best Classical Contemporary Composition for Sérgio's "Tahhiyya li ossoulina." The ninth annual Latin Grammy Award ceremony will be broadcast live from Houston's Toyota Center, November 13, on the Univision network.

Laurie Anderson's Homeland returned to the States with a performance at the Lied Center on the Kansas University, Lawrence. The Lawrence Journal-World & News says it was "an extraordinary concert ... of hard-hitting cultural and political commentaries." Anderson offered these insights "with wit as well as with a broad and penetrating sense of wisdom," providing "an open-ended common ground upon which to construct a perhaps more thoughtful political discourse ..."

Emmylou Harris closed out the UK leg of her European tour this past weekend with stops in Manchester and London. Saturday's performance at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall led the Manchester Evening News to write: "Legend is a term hastily applied in these latter days of talent show revivalism. Emmylou Harris has quietly earned the right to bear the title ... Her clear voice has lost none of its beguiling power—varying from whisper to country power yodel." Following her London show at the Hammersmith Apollo, The Times (UK) described her as "a regal presence" who "sang like an angel."

Randy Newman's tune "A Piece of the Pie," from Harps and Angels, has made its way onto the Boston Globe's list of "The 1 Thing You Must Do, See, or Hear This Week" as "The 1 Great Election-Season Lyric." Calling the record "savagely patriotic," the paper states: "We could go on and on about Randy Newman's rapier wit, but his words speak for themselves." Randy hits the road this week, with a free in-store performance at New York's Apple Store SoHo and a show at Carnegie Hall. The New Yorker calls the new album "a welcome, witty throwback to the days when his songs were snide, ironic, edgy, controversial, and, oh yeah, really funny."

Bill Frisell played the closing sets last night in his two-week residency at New York's Village Vanguard, with Paul Motion and Joe Lovano. This week, Bill heads to Pennsylvania for two shows with Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston. All About Jazz reviews History, Mystery, the latest release from this master of the "haunting, twang-inflected telecaster," comparing to Miles Davis his ability to take the familiar in ever new directions. One reason: "his brilliant orchestrations and ability to streamline what could be an unwieldy ensemble."

Philip Glass is featured in The Independent on Sunday with a preview of his forthcoming Nonesuch retrospective, the 10-CD Glass Box. Glass gives insight into a few of his most renowned collaborations, including his groundbreaking 1976 work with Robert Wilson, Einstein on the Beach, and his score to Martin Scorsese's Kundun, both featured on The Glass Box; as well as his work with artists like Doris Lessing, David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Leonard Cohen.

Wordless Music presents an all–Steve Reich program over two nights in New York ... John Adams's Two Fanfares for Orchestra is performed in Singapore ... Laurie Anderson's Homeland heads South ... Bill Frisell finishes two-week residency at New York's Village Vanguard with Paul Motian and Joe Lovano ... Philip Glass and his Ensemble unveil a new work at the World Expo's closing ceremonies in Spain ... Emmylou Harris closes out the British leg of her tour ... Kronos Quartet and Wu Man perform Terry Riley's The Cusp of Magic in its entirety at the Phoenix Symphony's World Music Festival ... Nicholas Payton performs at the Tudo É Jazz Festival in Brazil ... Sam Phillips hits Pittsburgh and Boston, with an in-store for Newbury Comics' 30th anniversary ... Punch Brothers play Texas ... Joshua Redman Quartet performs at the Jazz à la Villette festival in France ... Dawn Upshaw joins the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for its Opening Weekend Celebration ... Wilco's Nels Cline celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Fender Jazzmaster in an all-star concert at New York's Knitting Factory ... and more ...

Sam Phillips's tour continues with stops in the Northeast this weekend, including a special, free in-store performance at the Newbury Comics store in Harvard Square, Cambridge, celebrating the retailer's 30th anniversary. As the tour continues, Sam's Monday night show in Annapolis, Maryland, will be broadcast live from NPR, for All Songs Considered's online concert series, at npr.org. "Of all of Sam Phillips' roles as a musician," says NPR, "her latest incarnation is the most alluring."

Toumani Diabaté has just announced dates for a tour across the US, with music from his latest release, The Mandé Variations. Paste magazine says that with the new record, "Mali’s reigning musical magician uncorks another genie from his bottle ... Diabaté’s magic hands coax an amazing array of voices from his instrument." The Boston Globe calls Diabaté "the uncontested master of the 21-string lute called kora" who "presents his virtuosity in a whole different light" on the new record and tour.

Randy Newman's Harps and Angles, is Stereophile magazine's Recording of the Month, earning five stars for performance and four stars for sound, calling it "another collection of uniquely chiseled miniatures that vividly bring back memories of what a master he is of songcraft and how expressive his voicings can be ... In short, Randy Newman has done it again."

Emmylou Harris's European tour began this past Tuesday with a concert at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall. The Independent finds her voice in "mint condition," admiring "her stately mastery of her art," and noting that Emmylou's obvious pride in her latest album, All I Intended to Be, "is justified, because many of the show's best moments stem from this record." The Herald calls it "a splendid album" and reports that Emmylou is "sounding, and looking, as good as she has ever done."

Sam Phillips's tour with the music of her latest release, Don't Do Anything, continues at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern tonight in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cleveland Free Times's Michael David Toth describes Sam's work as "a spectacular body of sophisticated, shadowy pop albums," at once "progressively modern" and reflective of inspirations from the Beatles to Tin Pan Alley. Her 2004 album, A Boot and a Shoe, "stands as one of this decade's most criminally overlooked recorded masterpieces," he asserts. "With any luck, her follow-up, Don't Do Anything, will get the acclaim it deserves."