Rokia Traoré rounds out the Californian leg of her North American tour … Alarm Will Sound performs Adams at Cresc Biennale in Germany … Sam Amidon concludes European tour in Copenhagen … Devendra Banhart plays Primavera Fauna Festival … Bombino tours Midwest … Olivia Chaney is in London ... Jeremy Denk joins Westchester Philharmonic … Richard Goode performs in Massachusetts … Emmylou Harris celebrates Americana on PBS … Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana bring Mehliana to Germany … Audra McDonald sings on the East Coast … Joshua Redman plays Chicago & Pittsburgh … Allen Toussaint is outside Philly … and more …

Last year, for the first time since 1980, guitarist Pat Metheny recorded with a band that highlighted tenor saxophone. Unity Band, which went on to win Metheny his 20th Grammy Award, featured Chris Potter on sax and bass clarinet, longtime collaborator Antonio Sanchez on drums, and Ben Williams on bass. Now, Metheny has added another musician, multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi, and christened the ensemble Pat Metheny Unity Group. The Group’s first record, Kin (←→), will be released by Nonesuch on February 4, 2014, and is available to pre-order with an exclusive print autographed by Metheny. The Pat Metheny Unity Group will tour North America starting February 3 and Europe in the spring.

Nonesuch Records releases the debut album from the electric duo of Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana, Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, on February 25, 2014. The two have been performing for several years, including a brief US tour this fall, with Mehldau playing Fender Rhodes and synthesizers and Guiliana on drums and effects, as they are on the record. Mehliana comprises 12 original tunes—six written by the duo and six written by Mehldau—and was engineered and mixed by Greg Koller (Jon Brion, Kanye West). The vinyl edition of the album is due March 18. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an instant download of the album track “Hungry Ghost.”

London-based singer/songwriter Olivia Chaney has signed a worldwide deal with Nonesuch Records. The deal coincides with the announcement of the 2014 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, for which Chaney has received two nominations—the Horizon Award for best emerging artist, and Best Original Song for “Swimming in the Longest River.” Chaney will release her debut album in 2014. Further details about the album and its release will be announced shortly, as will upcoming tour dates.

Emmylou Harris will be a familiar face and voice on PBS in the coming days, as she is among the artists featured on two programs showcasing Americana music airing this weekend: Nashville 2.0, exploring the vibrant Americana music scene, with interviews and performances from Harris, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and more; and Austin City Limits' special with highlights from the Americana Music Festival 2013, including performances from Harris with Rodney Crowell and Dr. John with Dan Auerbach. 

Bombino kicks off a 14-city North American tour, featuring music from his new album, Nomad, with a performance at the University of North Carolina in Asheville tonight. The tour includes stops in Nashville, Louisville, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Montreal, Cambridge, Providence, Philadelphia, and DC, culminating with a concert in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in NYC on December 6. Bombino then makes his way to the other end of the planet for a two-week tour of Australia; he returns to the States in the spring to perform at the Savannah Music Festival on a double bill with Fatoumata Diawara.

Ry Cooder's first live record in more than 35 years, Live in San Francisco, is featured in an article from The New Yorker's Alec Wilkinson titled "Ry Cooder, Live Again." Wilkinson traces Cooder's career through his studio recordings—"Cooder’s catalogue, reflecting his capacious intelligence, is the broadest and deepest in popular music"—to the new live album. "The solos open like rooms, one into another," writes Wilkinson. "Some of the rooms are still as night, and in others the audience shouts like congregants cheering a preacher."

During a recent visit to the Library of Congress, Randy Newman was given the opportunity to play George Gershwin’s piano. "Outdoors but Not the Red River Valley" was written on commission from pianist Gloria Cheng and is one in a five-part homage to Newman’s uncles, film composers Alfred, Emil & Lionel Newman. "My uncle Alfred wrote the music for a number of John Ford’s films," says Newman. "In every one of them, the great director wanted to use 'Red River Valley.' Al liked the tune, but not in every picture. I wrote this piece for my uncle, who was a really great composer." Watch his performance here.

Although Punch Brothers' three-night New Year's Eve run at NYC's Bowery Ballroom is sold out, the band has now added several tour dates in March, including stops along the East Coast, a few in the Midwest, and a pair of festivals: Savannah Music Festival and Suwannee Springfest. Pre-sale begins tomorrow, November 20; general on-sale begins Friday. Chris Thile will be keeping himself warm before then with solo shows in Australia, the Southwest US, and more, plus duo shows with Mike Marshall and Brad Mehldau.

David Byrne and the original cast of Here Lies Love will perform a one-time only special benefit concert in support of the people of the Philippines in the wake of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The special show will take place at Terminal 5 in NYC on November 25. All proceeds will go to support Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) relief efforts in the Philippines. “The show is about the resiliency of the Philippine people—it couldn’t be more timely,” says Byrne. “Upon hearing about this tragedy the cast contacted me about doing a show to raise money for relief efforts. Most of our cast is Filipino, and all of us feel the same way. It’s personal for all of us."

Jeremy Denk was featured on NPR's All Things Considered this weekend. He spoke with host Arun Rath about J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations and his new recording of it. "The piece is kind of about invention and imagination," says Denk. "In another way, it's like the biggest jazz riff ever written. It's endlessly funny in some ways and endlessly moving in other ways."

Bombino closes out European tour in France ... Sam Amidon is in Germany ... Laurie Anderson talks with Neil Gaiman in NYC ... Devendra Banhart tours Brazil ... Shawn Colvin concludes NYC residency ... Jeremy Denk closes out SF Symphony tour ... Richard Goode plays Schubert in Connecticut ... Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell play epilepsy benefit in Nashville ... Kronos Quartet turns 40 in Seattle ... Audra McDonald sings at education benefits in Missouri ... Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana take Mehliana to France ... Natalie Merchant joins Tulsa Symphony ... Joshua Redman plays hometown of Berkeley ... Steve Reich, Alarm Will Sound perform at the Met Museum ... Rokia Traoré kicks off North American tour in NYC ...