Tooth of Crime, T Bone Burnett's first album on Nonesuch and only his second solo record in over 15 years, is due out tomorrow. The music stems from a 1997 collaboration with Sam Shepard, when the playwright asked the songwriter to contribute to a new production of his 1972 play Tooth of Crime. It was a coming together that New York Times music critic Jon Pareles calls "inspired." T Bone spoke with his hometown paper, the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram: "I'm still on this quest---this sonic quest to find the grail."

Steve Reich's latest album, Daniel Variations, comprises both the title piece, written in 2006 in memory of slain reporter Daniel Pearl, and Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings. The New York Times says the title piece "avoids both sentimentality and vituperation," despite its subject matter. It is, instead "a work of contemplative commemoration, which merits and rewards repeated explorations."

Last Wednesday, Nicholas Payton performed in what the Associate Press calls one of "the most exciting sets" at the seventh and final Jammy Awards, honoring the best in improvised music. Payton recently spoke with All About Jazz contributor R. J. DeLuke about his career and the making of his newly released Nonesuch debut, Into the Blue, which the site says shows the trumpeter "as a thoughtful composer and a player who pays as much attention to his sound as his plentiful technique."

The Black Keys kick off the next leg of their Attack & Release tour tonight in Washington, DC, for the first of two sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club. Tomorrow night's set will be broadcast live on NPR's All Songs Considered. Pat and Dan head next to New York City for a performance Wednesday night on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, followed by a sold-out show Thursday night at Terminal 5.

Bill Frisell's latest Nonesuch release, History, Mystery is due out this Tuesday. The BBC exclaims: "[T]he whole album stands as yet another testament to the man's place at the very epicentre of modern American music. Yes, he's done it again ... refining and expanding his palette with every release." The Guardian, in a four-star review of the album says it is "studded with gems."

T Bone Burnett's Nonesuch debut album, Tooth of Crime, is out this Tuesday. The album features "ghostly echoes of tambourine and twang, and the subdued lowing of mournful horns," says the Independent, in arrangements possessing "great depth and diverse character." The paper praises Tooth of Crime as a modern-day "update of the jazz 'n' poetry format," through which lens the album's "abundant pleasures become apparent."

The Black Keys played a MySpace Secret Show last night at Cleveland's Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, the site of their first-ever show six years ago, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Akron-based duo is "white-hot" following the release of Attack & Release, their "lushest" album yet.

Steve Reich spoke with BBC Radio 4's Today show, the network's flagship daily news and current affairs program, this morning about his latest Nonesuch release Daniel Variations and the composition of its title track, inspired by slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. T Bone Burnett is scheduled to appear on the show tomorrow morning to preview his forthcoming Nonesuch release, Tooth of Crime.

"There is a paucity of quality female vocalists in the music charts today," writes the New Zealand Herald in a review of k.d. lang's performance last night at Auckland's Aotea Centre. While there is certainly no lack of pop starlets, says the review, for quality, "one woman stands alone." That would be k.d., who "enraptured the audience with her remarkable vocal range." Her live performance of tunes from Watershed was "pitch-perfect and soulful."