Bill Frisell joins drummer Paul Motian and saxophonist Joe Lovano for a rare two-week stint at New York's Village Vanguard beginning tonight. New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen describes them as "a blue-chip trio that’s shadowy, slippery and as open-ended as a koan," and says, "There’s no better place to see them than at the Village Vanguard." You can listen to Wednesday night's set as it unfolds live, on NPR station WBGO, Jazz88 FM, for the new series Live at the Village Vanguard.

Laurie Anderson brings Homeland to South America ... The Black Keys play the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul and Bumbershoot in Seattle ... Philip Glass discusses creativity and collaboration in Brazil ... Youssou N'Dour takes documentary to Telluride Festival ... Fernando Otero explores Tango After Piazzolla with Paquito D'Rivera in Moab ... Punch Brothers play three shows out West ... Joshua Redman joins Joy of Jazz in Johannesburg ... Laura Veirs solos at the Festival de musique émergente in Québec ... Wilco close summer tour at County Laios, Ireland's Electric Picnic ... and more ...

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, a new film documenting the making of Egypt, Youssou's seminal 2004 musical exploration of Islam, makes its Telluride Film Festival debut this weekend. While the schedule of screenings remains hush-hush until the proceedings begin tomorrow, it's safe to assume that Youssou will be involved in the festivities. The film examines the critical and public response to the album at home in Senegal, and abroad, where it garnered a Grammy Award. The following week, the film will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Youssou will also perform in a free concert.

Randy Newman recently spoke with Rolling Stone for a feature article in the September 4 issue, in which Harps and Angels, Randy's first album in nine years, is described as "a welcome return to form for Newman, one of the greatest songwriters of the rock era—though his songs rarely rock and often have more in common with Tin Pan Alley and show tunes."

The Wire, the Peabody Award-winning HBO show that ended its five-season run earlier this year, has been nominated for the 2008 Humanitas Prize, an annual screenwriter's award honoring stories that "affirm the human person, probe the meaning of life, and enlighten the use of human freedom."

Wilco and The Black Keys were among the highlights of the Outside Lands Festival this past weekend, with tens of thousands of music fans flooding San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. SPIN captured two songs from The Black Keys' opening-night performance on video. The San Jose Mercury News writes of Wilco's set: "Guitarist Nels Cline is a monster, and this lineup brilliantly balances the gentle, reassuring music Jeff Tweedy could make with his eyes closed and the challenging, difficult elements that have endeared Wilco to critics and urban hipsters."

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.