“The music on Dynamic Maximum Tension consists mostly of portraits of people—Buckminster Fuller and Alan Turing and Mae West and Duke Ellington,” composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue says of his upcoming album with his Secret Society ensemble in a new behind-the-scenes video. "I tried to think about, well, what are the places in my life where I turn to look for optimism and inspiration and the idea that the future is something to be anticipated rather than dreaded. So that’s the impetus for so much of the music on this record—to look to a period in the past where the future seemed brighter than it does today, and to try to find a way to represent that optimism about the future in music some way.” You can watch the video, directed by Reuben Hernandez at PowerStation at BerkleeNYC, here.

Kronos Quartet gives a free concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park as part of Kronos: Five Decades. Laurie Anderson celebrates John Zorn's 70th with Zorn and Sean Ono Lennon in Brooklyn. Timo Andres plays Moab Music Festival. The Black Keys tour the Midwest. Joachim Cooder is at Tønder Festival in Denmark. Jeremy Denk performs at Music on the Straight festival in Washington. Cécile McLorin Salvant is in Massachusetts. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway join Charley Crocket in Texas then head to Kansas.

Rhiannon Giddens has shared a new video about the making of her new album, You're the One, filmed by Torrance Hill in Miami's Criteria Recording Studios at the recording of the album. "This album has been created in love and camaraderie, crossing boundaries musically," she says in the video. "We've got a lot of different types of music going on, a lot of different musicians from different worlds coming together. Part of my mission this whole time is to talk about how these barriers are not barriers ... When people are all in it for the same reason—i.e. we're gonna make an amazing piece of art, we're gonna make this great piece of music, and we're gonna do it in a way that enriches us and the listener, so we have gained by making it, and the listener has gained by listening to it—the barriers don't matter." You can watch it here.

"'The Light' celebrates the birth of my daughter Bahia," Yussef Dayes says of the new song from his upcoming album, Black Classical Music. "'The Light' is a Dayes lullaby song. The sweet harpsichord is a sound that Bahia was captivated by, although it was also a song she fell asleep too. An ode to Stevie Wonder's 'Isn’t She Lovely,' I wanted to add Bahia's voice from footage and voice notes I've recorded over the last few years since her birth. Bahia introduces the song and shares her positive affirmations with her mum, something she can't go to sleep without doing now."

"She’s kind of phenomenal, really," CBS Mornings' Anthony Mason says ahead of his conversation with Rhiannon Giddens. "She’s doing some incredibly important work." They visit RetroFret Vintage Guitars in Brooklyn to talk about her new album, You're the One, her Pulitzer Prize–winning opera with Michael Abels, Omar, and more. You can watch their conversation here.

Rhiannon Giddens and her band were on CBS Saturday Morning to perform a Saturday Sessions set of three songs from her new album, You’re the One: “Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad,” the title track, and “If You Don’t Know How Sweet It Is,” a web exclusive. You can watch all three performances here.

Rhiannon Giddens' new album, You're the One, her first of all original songs, is out now. "Giddens melds the past and present, writing a bold new future for herself in the process," says Rolling Stone. "One of Americana music's most vital voices expands her sound without abandoning her roots." "It’s easy to hear the joyous spirit in which she’s singing these songs," says Folk Alley, "and Giddens delivers a little masterpiece of an album that showcases her commanding presence as a singer and songwriter." Uncut calls the album an “accomplished tour d’horizon by [a] prolific polymath.” "There are good years, and then there are great years. Rhiannon Giddens is having one of those," says Michel Martin on NPR's Morning Edition; you can hear their conversation here.

Portuguese fado singer Carminho's new, self-produced album, Portuguesa, released to critical acclaim earlier this year, is now available in the US on CD and vinyl on Nonesuch, ahead of a fall North American tour. You can take a quick look inside the vinyl here. The sixth album of Carminho’s career, Portuguesa features fourteen compositions: several of her own songs as well as those of other writers, including traditional fado songs, through which she explores various combinations within the canons, reimagining the form.

k.d. lang's recording of the song that was Tony Bennett’s first no. 1 hit, “Because of You,” for CBS News Sunday Morning, in memory of her longtime friend, teacher, and musical collaborator, is now available to stream and download. lang is donating her proceeds from the single to the Tony Bennett Legacy Fund of Exploring the Arts, the nonprofit he and his wife Susan Benedetto founded. “‘Because of You’ was the last song Tony sang, just two days before he passed,” Benedetto said. “Hearing k.d.’s beautiful rendition of the song she and Tony sang together brings back wonderful memories and pays tribute to their friendship. As I mentioned to k.d., ‘If Tony were here, he would say only one word after hearing you sing that song, ‘Perfect.’”

Composer Steve Reich talks about creating his iconic 1965 tape piece It's Gonna Rain in a new video from his publisher Boosey & Hawkes. That year, Reich recorded Pentecostal preacher Brother Walter preaching on Noah and the Flood in San Francisco, then aligned two Wollensak tape recorders that gradually fell out of sync, eventually creating contrapuntal lines from the recording. Reich's first major phasing work, it would become a landmark piece.

Rhiannon Giddens was on the Today show on NBC to perform the title track to her new album, You're the One, out this Friday, and the new album track "Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad," which was released today. "I listened to a bunch of Aretha Franklin, and then turned to fellow Aretha-nut Dirk Powell and said, ‘Let’s write a song she might have sung!,'" Giddens says of the new song. You can watch the Today performances and listen to the new album track here.

Natalie Merchant recently gave an intimate performance at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in NYC for WFUV’s FUV Live. She spoke with host Alisa Ali and was joined by her longtime guitarist Erik Della Penna to perform several songs from throughout her career. You can now watch her perform "Sister Tilly," from her new album, Keep Your Courage, as well as “Carnival” and “Break Your Heart” from the set here and listen to the complete session at wfuv.org. Merchant resumes her Keep Your Courage tour on the US West Coast, Europe, and the UK in the autumn.