Laurie Anderson is adapting her new feature film, Heart of a Dog, for Times Square. This unique edition of the film will be shown on Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 PM to midnight, January 1–31, as part of the monthly Midnight Moment series. On January 4, Anderson will be on site for a special live performance, joining NYPD canine handlers and their dogs starting at 11:30 PM. The event will be free and open to the public, who are encouraged to bring their own dogs. "I love Times Square," says Anderson. "It's a dream. Desire, speed, the explosions of color, patterns and energy. What a great way to start the New Year! Who could have predicted the unraveling dreams of my dog would be magnified up there like this?"

Brad Mehldau received the Wigmore Medal on Friday, becoming the first jazz musician to do so. Wigmore Hall Director John Gilhooly, presenting the medal at Mehldau's concert at the London hall, said: "Brad Mehldau has forged a unique path which embodies the essence of jazz exploration." His Wigmore concert program last week earned five stars from the Financial Times ("remarkable"), and four stars in the Guardian ("a powerful and thought-provoking gig") and The Arts Desk ("a beguilingly beautiful set").

Israeli composer/musician Shye Ben Tzur was a guest on BBC World Service Weekend. He discusses working on the new album Junun with Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express. The album was recorded in a makeshift studio inside the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India, and comprises Ben Tzur’s compositions, which feature devotional Sufi qawwal musicians who sing in Urdu as well as in his native Hebrew. Hear the BBC World Service piece here. Junun is on the Times of London's list of the Best Records of the Year and is up for the 2016 Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards Album of the Year.

The Arcs conclude inaugural North American tour in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville … Laurie Anderson presents a dog-friendly double feature in Los Angeles … Timo Andres joins fellow ACME members at National Sawdust in Brooklyn … Mark Morris Dance Group's week-long run of The Hard Nut at BAM in Brooklyn comes to a close … Brad Mehldau gives a solo performance in London … Punch Brothers end 2015 US tour with two nights in Knoxville … and more …

Nonesuch Records releases Michael Daves's two-album set, Orchids and Violence, on February 26, 2016. Orchids and Violence comprises two discs with identical track listings of mostly traditional bluegrass tunes, including songs by bluegrass pioneers Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. The first disc features straightforward interpretations recorded in a 19th-century church with a band of roots-music innovators: bassist Mike Bub, violinist Brittany Haas, mandolinist Sarah Jarosz, and Punch Brothers banjoist Noam Pikelny. The second disc was recorded in Daves's home studio and includes bass, drums, and electric guitar, mostly played by Daves, and takes a raw, experimental rock approach to the same old-time material. Pre-orders include an instant download of both the bluegrass and electric versions of the song "The Dirt That You Throw."

Emmylou Harris, Punch Brothers, and Chris Thile will be among the performers at the 43rd annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, taking place June 16–19, 2016, the weekend before the summer solstice. The preliminary lineup for the much-loved southwestern Colorado event was announced earlier today, just before the winter solstice.

Lianne La Havas has unveiled a new remix of "Green & Gold," a track off her Grammy-nominated album, Blood. The song was remixed by Donnie Trumpet and Nate Fox, who, as The Social Experiment, joined Saturday Night Live musical guest Chance the Rapper on the show this past weekend. You can hear "Green & Gold (Donnie Trumpet & Nate Fox Remix)" here. La Havas, who closed out her 2015 tour in Brussels last night, will return to the US for a series of fully sold-out intimate solo club dates in February.

NPR Music has announced its Favorite Songs of 2015, including tracks from eight Nonesuch Records releases from The Arcs, Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Kronos Quartet, Lianne La Havas, Punch Brothers, St Germain, and The Staves, as well as Mbonwana Star's World Circuit release. These are across a broad range of genre lists, including rock, folk/Americana, country, electronic, world, and classical. You can hear them here.

Laurie Anderson will present her own two-hour special on BBC Radio 6 Music on December 25 at 7 PM GMT as part of the station's annual Wise Women strand, followed that same evening by her three choices of archive programs: Lou Reed's New York Shuffle, Bob Dylan's Big Freeze, and 6 Music Live Hour with Tracy Chapman, Amy Winehouse, and Lou Reed. Anderson's is the first of three Wise Women evenings, followed by Róisín Murphy on the 26th and Peaches on the 27th.

Lake Street Dive has released a short video trailer for their forthcoming album, Side Pony, featuring music from the album's title track and a quick look inside the recording studio. The video was made by Matthew Beighley using Greg Liszt's footage from the album recording sessions at the Sound Emporium in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb. You can watch it here. Side Pony, Lake Street Dive's Nonesuch debut album, is due February 19 and is available to pre-order now.

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman close out tour with SFJAZZ Center run … Sam Amidon stops in Nashville … Laurie Anderson talks Heart of a Dog in Santa Fe … Timo Andres joins Attaca Quartet in NYC … The Arcs play Boston … Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell give an intimate benefit show in DC … Mark Morris Dance Group performs The Hard Nut at BAM in Brooklyn … Audra McDonald is in Barbados … Natalie Merchant talks Paradise Is There in Chicago … Punch Brothers play the Northeast … and more …

The new six-song recording by The Arcs, entitled The Arcs vs. The Inventors Vol. I, featuring Dr. John and David Hidalgo, which was first released as a limited-edition vinyl 10" as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event, is now available digitally; a limited quantity of the 10" vinyl is also now available in the Nonesuch Store. The disc is the first in a series of collaborative "Inventors" recordings to be released by The Arcs. The band is currently touring the US with music from Yours, Dreamily, its debut album.