The new album of John Adams's City Noir and Saxophone Concerto is out now, performed by the St. Louis Symphony led by David Robertson, featuring saxophonist Timothy McAllister. "Dense, brash and exuberant," raves the New York Times, "these two stellar works by John Adams are love letters to the confidence of the 1950s and a time when some of the greatest feats of virtuosity were often performed in smoky jazz clubs." It's "an incisive performance," says the Times; "McAllister sizzles." The Times of London gives the album four stars, calling the concerto "fun from start to finish."

The Black Keys' Patrick Carney, fresh off the release of the band's new album, Turn Blue, and its debut as the #1 album, spoke with Carrie Brownstein, of the band Sleater-Kinney and the IFC show Portlandia for The Talkhouse Podcast. The Black Keys opened for Sleater-Kinney back in 2003. "It’s a revealing, thought-provoking conversation that only two musicians could have," says The Talkhouse. You can hear it for yourself here.

The cast recording of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's Here Lies Love, featuring the original 2013 Public Theater cast of the musical starring Ruthie Ann Miles as Imelda Marcos, earns a nine out of ten from PopMatters. The 2010 song-cycle recording "was a magnificent achievement," exclaims PopMatters, "by turns catchy, clever, and insightful." And still, the newly released cast album "is even better." It "takes one to a wondrous world," says the site, citing Miles's "sumptuous singing," and concluding: "the music is exceedingly seductive."

The Black Keys have confirmed several additional North American tour dates, including shows in Ottawa, Oakland, Sacramento, and Los Angeles as well as additional nights in Brooklyn and Chicago. Special guests during the extensive tour include Cage The Elephant, Jake Bugg, and St. Vincent. The tour begins September 5 in Columbus, Ohio, and runs through December. Pre-sale for newly announced dates begins Tuesday, June 3, at 10 AM local time; general on sale starts Friday, June 6, at 10 AM local.

Concerts and talks of the 68th Ojai Music Festival, of which Jeremy Denk is 2014 Music Director, will be streamed live and archived at the Festival's site, June 12–15. Ojai Live features an enhanced HD five-camera shoot and intermission interviews with artists and special guests hosted by Fred Child of Performance Today. Highlights include talks and multiple performances from Denk, including the world premiere a new opera for which he wrote the libretto, and Timo Andres.

Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté close out the Barbican's Explorations celebration of Nonesuch at 50 ... Emmylou Harris, Youssou N’Dour perform on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, airing on HBO ... Bombino tours Italy ... Kronos Quartet, Dr. John are at Primavera Sound in Spain ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica tour Europe ... Brad Mehldau solos in France ... Pat Metheny Unity Group plays Poland ... Conor Oberst tours Midwest ... Joshua Redman is in California ... Rokia Traoré is in the Netherlands ... Sara Watkins is in LA for Watkins Family Hour, Nickel Creek is on NPR's World Cafe ... and more ...

Caetano Veloso performed at Barbican Hall earlier this week as part of Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, the Barbican's month-long celebration of the label's 50th anniversary. The concert, featuring songs from his new album, Abraçaço, earned five stars from the Times and Guardian, both of which call it a "masterclass," and The Arts Desk. The Times also calls it "a perfect evening," the Guardian "exquisite." The Arts Desk says: "Caetano Veloso gets more extraordinary." Veloso tours the US this fall.

Conor Oberst's video for "Zigzagging Toward the Light," off his recently released Nonesuch Records debut album, Upside Down Mountain, premiered via Rolling Stone, which calls the album Oberst's "best work in years." The video was directed by David Altobelli and shot in New York City. You can watch it here. The songs on the new album, asserts a new Wall Street Journal review, "stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his best writing."

Conor Oberst capped off a week celebrating the release of his new album, Upside Down Mountain, with an appearance on CBS This Morning: Saturday. He was backed by the band Dawes to perform two tracks from the new album: “Hundreds of Ways” and “You Are Your Mother’s Child.” You can watch both, as well as a web-exclusive performance of “Time Forgot” below. Oberst’s tour with Dawes as special guests continues in the Midwest this week.

Natalie Merchant was featured on two radio sessions over the weekend: NPR’s World Cafe Friday, performing four songs from her new, self-titled album, “Lulu,” “Texas,” “Giving Up Everything,” and “Ladybird,” and on BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris program Sunday, performing “It’s A-Coming” and “Texas” from the album, plus “Kind & Generous,” from 1998's Ophelia. Merchant, says Harris, has “one of the most beautiful and distinctive voices in the whole of rock and pop music.” Hear the Harris session here.

Jeremy Denk, Emmylou Harris continue the Barbican's celebration of Nonesuch at 50 ... Spoleto Festival USA features John Adams's El Niño, works by Steve Reich, Louis Andriessen ... Bombino tours Europe ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play DelFest ... Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle are out West ... Donnacha Dennehy is composer-in-residence with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra ... Natalie Merchant is on NPR's World Cafe, BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris ... Pat Metheny Unity Group is in Germany ... Conor Oberst plays two nights in DC ... and more ...

The Black Keys’ new album, Turn Blue, debuted this week at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. This is the highest chart debut yet for the acclaimed duo, whose previous album, El Camino, debuted at #2 in 2011. It is also the first #1 album for Nonesuch Records. Turn Blue is also the band’s highest charting album to date internationally, debuting at #1 in Canada and Australia, #2 in the UK and New Zealand, #3 in Ireland, #4 in France and Switzerland and #5 in Austria and Holland. The album also charted in the top ten in Germany, Belgium, Finland, and Portugal.