k.d. lang will make her Broadway debut in the new musical After Midnight beginning February 11, 2014 (and continuing through March 9, 2014). Tickets for her engagement go on sale November 4, 2013. Refracted through a contemporary lens, After Midnight will celebrate Duke Ellington’s years at the Cotton Club using his original arrangements and performed by a big band of 17 musicians hand-picked by Wynton Marsalis. After Midnight is a new production of Cotton Club Parade which played two sold-out engagements at City Center. 

Ry Cooder’s first live record in more than 35 years, Live in San Francisco, is out now. The album, produced by Cooder, was recorded in 2011 during a special two-night engagement with the Corridos Famosos band and a ten-piece Mexican brass band at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, and includes original songs and interpretations of other material from across his career. "One of those nights when you wish you’d been in Row A," says the Sunday Times of London. Guitarist magazine calls it "sublime, spirited slide 'n' soul from a past-master of the art."

Bombino has performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, the 300th episode in the series of intimate sets at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, featuring three songs from his Nonesuch debut album, Nomad. Boilen praises his "fierce, hypnotic guitar playing" and "amazing jams." Watch the performance here. Bombino, currently touring Europe, will launch the next leg of his US tour in November.

Stephen Sondheim, who was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal in August, discussed the award and much more on PBS NewsHour last night. While at The MacDowell Colony to receive the award last month, the composer spoke with Jeffrey Brown, NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown about the honor and the danger of resting on one's laurels. Writer Frank Rich, who was the chairman of the medal selection committee, tells the show: "I'd argue that he single-handedly has kept the musical theater in a serious place." Watch the PBS NewsHour feature here.

Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Sam Amidon, Carolina Chocolate Drops all perform at the Ottawa Folk Festival ... John Adams's The Gospel According to the Other Mary receives its Midwest premiere at Ravinia ... Laurie Anderson performs Dirtday! in Poland ... Björk headlines Berlin Festival ... Bombino tours Europe ... Dr. John plays three sets in the South ... Audra McDonald is in Utah ... Punch Brothers perform at Virginia's Interlocken Music Festival ... Dawn Upshaw celebrates Joan Tower's 75th birthday at Bard ... Sara Watkins is in San Diego ... and more ...

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, who released their collaborative album, Old Yellow Moon, on Nonesuch Records earlier this year, kick off the next leg of their North American tour with a headlining set at the Ottawa Folk Festival this evening. The tour makes stops throughout Canada and the US, including several shows in Texas and along the West Coast. Starting in November, Harris and Crowell welcome Richard Thompson to the bill, as they did for an earlier leg of the tour. 

Sam Amidon kicks off a five-week tour of North America featuring music from his Nonesuch debut album, Bright Sunny South, at Hugh's Room in Toronto tonight and the Ottawa Folk Festival this weekend before heading to the States and his home state of Vermont for a show at Higher Ground in South Burlington. The tour continues through mid-October, making stops throughout the Northeast—including headline shows in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, two nights at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Bill Frisell, four shows supporting Josh Ritter—into the Midwest in Minneapolis and Chicago, and drawing to a close in Santa Monica on October 11. Bright Sunny South will be released on vinyl with a bonus 7” disc featuring two previously unreleased recordings September 24.

Bombino, who is currently touring Europe, has performed an intimate, acoustic version of the song "Amidinine," off his Nonesuch debut album, Nomad, for the Guardian's How I wrote ... series. He discusses the song, the title of which translates to "My Friend," and is joined by his band mate Ibrahim Atchinguil Emoud on djembe to perform it. Watch it here. Bombino has been nominated for a MOBO Award in the "Best African Act" category; voting is open to the public.

Audra McDonald—whose first solo album in seven years, Go Back Home, was released earlier this year on Nonesuch Records—kicks off a four-month North American tour in the Opening Night Gala of the San Francisco Symphony’s 2013–14 Season. She and the orchestra, led by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, perform an all-American program at Davies Symphony Hall tonight. McDonald’s tour continues through December and includes performances in Austin, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Kansas City, Toronto, and more. 

Joshua Redman Quartet and an orchestra perform songs from his new album, Walking Shadows, at Detroit Jazz Fest ... John Adams conducts the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in his Violin Concerto and the Australian premiere of City Noir ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour New England ... Emmylou Harris celebrates local farming at Ontario's Greenbelt Harvest Picnic ... Lianne La Havas performs at Jamie Oliver and Alex James’s Big Feastival in the UK ... Audra McDonald's Live From Lincoln Center special airs in an expanded edition on PBS ... Youssou N’Dour is the subject of a new documentary on BBC Four ... and more ...

Rokia Traoré, whose new album, Beautiful Africa, will be released in the US on September 24, is featured on the latest episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. The show closes with "Kouma," the second track off her new album. "'Kouma' is the work of the amazingly talented Rokia Traoré," says the show. "Talk about a beautiful voice." Traoré kicks off a North American tour at Lincoln Center's White Light Festival in November.

Iron and Wine, who returns to the road this fall touring North America, stopped by SiriusXM's Outlaw Country while on tour earlier this year to perform three songs from the Nonesuch debut album, Ghost on Ghost—"Grace for Saints and Ramblers," "The Desert Babbler," and "Grass Widows"—plus the song "Lean Into the Light." Watch all four performances here. The fall tour from singer-songwriter Sam Beam and a 12-piece band kicks off at First Avenue in Minneapolis on September 18 and includes stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, and more.