The results of the 80th Annual DownBeat Readers Poll have been announced, and the winner for Guitarist of the Year is once again Pat Metheny. Metheny released two albums on Nonesuch this year: The Unity Sessions, which the Times of London called "brilliant," and Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny, which All About Jazz called "a complete success." "The results of this year’s poll illustrate a respect for tradition as well as an enthusiastic openness to innovation," said DownBeat Editor Bobby Reed.

Rhiannon Giddens, who could be seen on PBS on Friday performing in Bill Murray's Mark Train Prize ceremony, will perform at Alice Tully Hall in NYC on May 13, 2017, for Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. The series returns with 16 concerts in The Appel Room in February and March, then moves to Alice Tully Hall, where Giddens gives the season-closing concert. She performed in The Appel Room for the series with Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2011 and with the Swimming in Dark Waters concert in 2016.

The Metropolitan Opera's performance of Alban Berg's Lulu is now available on Blu-ray and DVD together in one package from Nonesuch Records. The Met's new production, directed by acclaimed South African visual artist William Kentridge, premiered in 2015 and starred Marlis Petersen in her final performances as Lulu, a role she has made "hers and almost hers alone" (Opera News) in ten different productions over eighteen years. The New York Times called it "a stunning and searing production." The production will be presented at English National Opera in November.

Damon Albarn Studio 13 has remixed Rokia Traoré’s song "Sé Dan," from her album Né So (Home), which was released on Nonesuch this past February. You can hear the song here. The remix comes as Traoré performs at Le Trianon in Paris tonight and begins a brief North American tour at Symphony Space in NYC this Sunday. The tour then heads to the West Coast for a show at SFJAZZ in San Francisco, three concerts in Canada, and a final stop at Triple Door in Seattle.

Rokia Traoré performs in Paris, begins North American tour in NYC … John Adams’s Nixon in China is performed by Royal Swedish Opera … Tyondai Braxton tours Europe … Michael Daves plays Brooklyn Bluegrass Bash … Jeremy Denk performs with St. Louis Symphony … Rhiannon Giddens plays for Bill Murray's Mark Twain Prize ceremony on PBS … Richard Goode gives solo recital in Colorado … Mariza is at SFJAZZ … Chris Thile hosts A Prairie Home Companion in Saint Paul … and more …

Conor Oberst was the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC last night. He was joined by bassist Miwi La Lupa to perform two songs—"Gossamer Thin" and "Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out"—from his new solo album, Ruminations, released earlier this month. You can watch the performance here. Obert resumes his Ruminations tour in his hometown of Omaha on November 3. 

Rhiannon Giddens joined a stellar line-up to perform at the ceremony awarding Bill Murray the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at The Kennedy Center last weekend. The ceremony—which also features Aziz Ansari, Roy Blount Jr., Jane Curtin, Bill Hader, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Brian Doyle Murray, Paul Shaffer, Emma Stone, and Sigourney Weaver—will be broadcast on PBS stations across the US this Friday night at 9/8c. You can watch Giddens sing of a certain celebrated jumping frog from the evening here.

A stellar lineup of musical luminaries comes together for a one-night-only concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to pay tribute to Bob Hurwitz, who for the past three decades has served as president of Nonesuch Records. The event will take place at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House on April 1, 2017. At the center of this celebration is Eleven Pieces for Bob, a program of world premiere works for piano by Nonesuch artists—John Adams, Laurie Anderson, Timo Andres, Louis Andriessen, Donnacha Dennehy, Philip Glass, Adam Guettel, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, Randy Newman, and Steve Reich—performed by the composers themselves and others. The evening also includes performances by Kronos Quartet, k.d. lang, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Thile, Dawn Upshaw, Stephin Merritt, Devendra Banhart, and others who have worked closely with Bob during his tenure.

A new, limited-edition, black 7" vinyl by Conor Oberst will be released on Nonesuch Records on November 25, 2016, exclusively as a part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event at independent record shops. The vinyl features a new full-band recording of "Tachycardia," a song on his just-released solo album Ruminations, paired with "Afterthought," an unreleased track from the Ruminations recording sessions. The disc is being pressed at Record Industry in the Netherlands.

"Here's a video dedicated to a great world leader," Randy Newman says of his new video. "I hope all of you like it. I know he will." You can watch it here.

Chris Thile spoke with PBS NewsHour about his new role as host of A Prairie Home Companion. "I’m obsessed with the good things that people make to give to one another," Thile says. "This show is a place, has been one of America’s most consistent sources of good things for 40 years. And I feel like it’s imperative that it continue." Mike Olson of Lake Street Dive, which was a musical guest on Thile's first show as host, tells PBS: "The desire to have a vinyl record and the desire to listen to a variety show and these kinds of things goes beyond nostalgia. And that’s a very visceral experience. And there’s something I think directly transferable to a show like this." Watch the piece here.

Devendra Banhart took the Marketplace Quiz, answering the public radio show's questions and offering insight in his own inimitable way. "It's okay not to know, and it's okay to ask for help," Banhart says when asked what advice he wished someone had given him before he started his career, advice he doesn't feel he took at the time. "I feel like it was all about 'No, I know, I know, I know, and I don't need anyone's help. I need to prove I can be independent.' But that isn't really how it works and you definitely don't know everything, and not only that, but it's okay not to know everything, and asking for help doesn't suddenly make you intrinsically dependent or co-dependent. It's a dance." You can hear the Quiz here.