Paul Thomas Anderson's film Junun gets LA premiere … The Arcs play Paris … Ry Cooder plays Carnegie Hall with Ricky Skaggs, Sharon White … Rhiannon Giddens tours US Northeast … Tigran Hamasyan performs in France … James Farm tours Europe, UK … Brad Mehldau Trio plays Pacific Northwest … Youssou N’Dour concludes North American tour … Chris Thile plays California ... and more ...

Brad Mehldau's new 10 Years Solo Live is now available as a four-CD box set and digitally. The set, which was first released as an eight-LP vinyl box set last month, is culled from 19 live recordings made over a decade of the pianist's European solo concerts and "contains some of the most impressive pianism he has captured on record," says the New York Times. He is "a player with a stunning virtuosity and daring ability to mine far reaches of improvisation," raves All About Jazz. This is "a beautiful release/box from a unique pianist who continually shows what the piano can do." "Brad Mehldau is a magician," exclaims Record Collector. "Hearing the pianist in full flow during a live performance is ... nothing less than an awe-inspiring experience."

Kronos Quartet and Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA) will present its second-annual hometown music festival, Kronos Festival 2016: Explorer Series, at SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, February 4–7, 2016. The festival features seven concerts over four days connecting area audiences to a wide range of musical voices and traditions from around the world. With virtuoso pipa player Wu Man as its artist-in-residence, the festival includes more than a dozen works, including four world premieres, two US premieres, four West Coast premieres, and two SF premieres.

Lake Street Dive's Nonesuch Records debut album, Side Pony, will be released on February 19, 2016. The four band members worked with Nashville-based producer Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Secret Sisters) on the record, which is available to pre-order now with an instant download of the album track "Call off Your Dogs"; you can hear the track here. Tour dates to support Side Pony begin February 22 in Phoenix and include stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, New York, and more; tickets go on sale Thursday, November 19.

Junun, the new album from composer/musician Shye Ben Tzur, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and a group of Indian musicians known as the Rajasthan Express, due next Friday, November 20, is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen at npr.org/music. The album's "real magic comes when the brass section is unleashed," says NPR's Tom Pryor; some tracks "practically jump out of the speakers and command listeners to dance."

St Germain, whose new, self-titled album—his first in 15 years—was released last month, embarks on an extensive tour, beginning this week in Europe and coming to North America in the spring. The latter starts at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2016, and includes stops in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, St. Paul, Denver, and Vancouver, with more to be announced soon; tickets go on sale this Friday, November 13. St Germain has also unveiled a video for the album track "Sittin' Here," which you can watch here.

Laurie Anderson's new film, Heart of a Dog, has been nominated for three Cinema Eye Honors awards for Nonfiction Filmmaking: Outstanding Achievement in Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation, and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score. The nominees were announced a reception in Copenhagen, Denmark, this evening. Winners will be announced at the 9th annual Cinema Eye Honors Ceremony on January 13, 2016, at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. Heart of a Dog, now showing in select theaters, opens in additional theaters across the US this weekend.

Lianne La Havas returned home to London last week, following a month-long North American tour, to attend the MOBO Awards, where she was nominated for Best Album and Best Female Act and performed "Unstoppable," off her new album, Blood. You can watch it here. La Havas is touring Europe for the next month and will play an Albert Sessions show at London’s Royal Albert Hall on March 14.

In memory of Allen Toussaint, "Tipitina and Me" from Our New Orleans

Laurie Anderson's new film, Heart of a Dog, which is currently showing at select theaters in NY and LA, was shown at the New York Film Festival last month. Following the screening, Anderson sat down with New York Film Festival director Kent Jones for a brief discussion of the film. You can now watch their conversation here. Heart of a Dog will open in additional theaters this coming weekend in California, Chicago, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas, and still more in the weeks that follow. 

Today marks the release of Natalie Merchant's Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings on Nonesuch Records. This collection of all-new recordings revisits Merchant's multi-platinum solo debut, Tigerlily, originally released in 1995 following her departure from 10,000 Maniacs. The new release is accompanied by a documentary DVD. The memoir-style film, which is currently screening at theaters in North America, contains live performances, archival footage, and interviews with musicians, friends, and fans about the influence the songs of Tigerlily have had over the past 20 years. MOJO, in a four-star review, says: "Time has only amplified the power of Merchant’s music." Merchant is participating in Q&As at select film screenings this fall and will tour in the spring.

The Arcs tour Europe, perform on Jools Holland … Sam Amidon, Nels Cline tour Midwest … Laurie Anderson is in LA for Heart of a Dog opening … Timo Andres joins violinist Tim Fain in NYC … Tyondai Braxton gives solo set at Boston Hassle Fest … Rhiannon Giddens resumes tour … Richard Goode plays Glasgow … Tigran Hamasyan tours Europe … James Farm is in the Netherlands … Lake Street Dive concludes California tour … Audra McDonald closes out Sydney Opera House residency … Brad Mehldau Trio tours California … Randy Newman plays Basel … Youssou N’Dour visits West Coast … Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club plays Puerto Rico … Chris Thile heads West ... and more ...