Dr. John can be heard across the BBC this week, on the BBC Radio 4's Front Row and the BBC World Service's The Strand; his new album, Locked Down, is the BBC 6 Music Album of the Day. It's Album of the Month in Uncut, earning a nine out of ten. "Hugely successful," the magazine exclaims. "Weird, powerful rock ‘n’ roll ... enormously funky." Rolling Stone, MOJO, and the NY Daily News all give Locked Down four stars: "Full of muscled, vintage R&B grooves, fevered soloing, psychedelic arrangements and oracular mumbo jumbo," says Rolling Stone, "it's the wildest record he's made in many years." The Daily News calls it "one of the smokiest, funkiest, sexiest works of the legend’s career." MOJO says: "Dr. John teams up with Dan Auerbach and the gumbo is bubbling once again ... This is definitely right place, right time."

Timothy Andres will make his London debut at Wigmore Hall on Friday, June 8, with a concert that marks the opening of the venue’s latest summer Late Night Series. The solo recital will focus on Andres’s own music and that of his contemporaries, as well as some of his major influences, like Brahms and Schumann. Before then, Andres has a number of US performances ahead, including a concert with the Brad Mehldau Trio in Denver.

With March Madness heading into the final stretch, Dr. John will play a free set in New Orleans' Woldenberg Park this Sunday as part of the NCAA Big Dance Concert Series. Dan Auerbach, the producer of his new album, Locked Down, plays on Saturday with The Black Keys. Both Dr. John and Auerbach will premiere music from the album at BAM the following weekend as part of Dr. John's three-week BAM residency, which begins tomorrow. Dr. John will be featured on BBC Radio 4's Front Row tonight.

Sun Midnight Sun, the second solo album from acclaimed singer, songwriter, and fiddle player Sara Watkins, will be released May 8 on Nonesuch Records. Produced by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Blake Mills, co-founder of the band Simon Dawes, the album features special guest appearances by Fiona Apple, Jackson Browne, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Benmont Tench, and Sean Watkins. The album is available to pre-order on in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive print signed by Watkins. In celebration of the album's release, Watkins will embark on a nationwide tour this spring and summer, including a series of special tour dates with Dawes.

Chris Thile joined the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for the New York premiere of his Mandolin Concerto at Carnegie Hall on Saturday. The New York Times wonders if the mandolin is "about to have its moment as a classical solo instrument" and calls Thile "the instrument’s brightest star at the moment." Thile "knows how to surprise," says the Times' Allan Kozinn. "As fresh as the music sounded, it also had an appealing naturalness." The mandolin's solo line "is built on Mr. Thile’s more subtle brand of virtuosity—a blend of fluid melody, dazzling speed and a command of timbre ..."

Timothy Andres's music was featured on a number of concert programs in Los Angeles this weekend, including a piece from his debut album, Shy and Mighty, at Beyond Baroque, and Andres himself joining the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on piano for the world premiere of his Old Keys and the West Coast premiere of his re-composition of Mozart's "Coronation" Concerto. "What is most original about Andres’ music so far is its extraordinary pianistic character," says the Los Angeles Times review. "He is a superb pianist with a highly evolved rhythmic sense and a quirky sense of humor."

Mac Rebennack, a.k.a Dr. John, whose new album, Locked Down, is due out next week, was the guest on today's episode of WNYC's Soundcheck. He performs a live solo piano version of "Big Shot," a song off the new album, and talks about working with producer Dan Auerbach on the album. He also gives preview of his three-week residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), which launches this week with a tribute to Louis Armstrong, followed by the premiere of new music from Locked Down with Auerbach (April 5–7), and a celebration of New Orleans music (April 12–15). Listen to the show here.

Nonesuch releases the label debut from acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk, Ligeti/Beethoven, on May 15, 2012. The solo recording features Ligeti’s Piano Études, Books One and Two, and Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 in C Minor. "One curious connection between the works on this album is the way both Ligeti and Beethoven relate themselves to jazz (and to syncopation, rhythmic dislocation generally)," says Denk. "But the most significant connection for me is between Beethoven’s vast timeless canvas and Ligeti’s bite-sized bits of infinity." Pre-order now. Tune in to Q2 Music all this week to hear Denk guest host Hammered!, and again tonight for a live videocast performance/conversation with Denk, John Adams, Michael Tilson Thomas, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

In 2004, Caetano Veloso curated a week of special concerts at Carnegie Hall and invited his longtime friend and collaborator David Byrne to join him for the show captured on the new album Caetano Veloso & David Byrne: Live at Carnegie Hall. "Respected songwriters who for the last four decades have in similar ways chronicled their respective cultures, the pair trade stripped-down renditions of some of their classics on this live document and in doing so offer borderless bliss," says the Los Angeles Times. Citing Veloso's take on Byrne's "(Nothing but) Flowers," the Times concludes: "Such joy is evident throughout Live at Carnegie Hall.” MOJO gives the album four stars.

Chris Thile joins Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to perform his Mandolin Concerto at Carnegie Hall, broadcast on WQXR ... John Adams's Absolute Jest is in Ann Arbor ... Laurie Anderson webcasts from London ... Timothy Andres join LACO to premiere his Old Keys ... Björk is in Costa Rica ... The Black Keys head South ... Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach is in Italy ... Kronos Quartet plays Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 in Seattle ... Jessica Lea Mayfield plays Memphis's Fareveller Festival ... Brad Mehldau Trio is in Amsterdam and Italy ... Randy Newman concludes European tour ... Dawn Upshaw is in Winnipeg ... Sara Watkins plays Alabama's Seagrass Music Festival ... and more ...

Amadou & Mariam's new album, Folila, is due out in the US on April 10. The album's opening track, "Dougou Badia," featuring Santigold, premiered on Pitchfork earlier this year. Today, Pitchfork has premiered the video for another album track, "Wily Kataso," featuring another stellar collaboration, this time with TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe. Watch the video, directed by Jennifer DeLia, here.

Following yesterday's video featuring the title track to Dr. John's forthcoming album, Locked Down, comes a second teaser video with a clip from the track "Revolution" and more footage from inside producer Dan Auerbach's Nashville studio. Watch it here. A third album track, "Big Shot," has been named NPR's Song of the Day. "Auerbach makes 71-year-old Mac Rebennack sound fresh and intimate by connecting him to his vital musical past," says NPR. Dr. John "proves that now, as always, he's the ruler of American roots music."