Brad Mehldau performs solo sets at New York City's Highline Ballroom tonight, with proceeds going to benefit JazzReach, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, performance, creation, and teaching of jazz. "Mehldau has established himself as one of the standout jazz voices of his generation," says the New York Times, "partly through a run of intensely lyrical solo piano recitals." The Village Voice calls Mehldau's solo work "sublime."

Allen Toussaint celebrates his 72nd birthday today. He received an early birthday gift when he was awarded the Grand Prix, Best Disc of the Year, from France's Académie du Jazz, for his 2009 Nonesuch debut, The Bright Mississippi. The awards ceremony took place this past Tuesday in Paris with members of the Ministry of Culture and a diverse array of artists in attendance.

"I didn't know quite what to expect when I started this whole thing, especially making a record with it," says Pat Metheny of his latest project, Orchestrion, and the forthcoming Nonesuch release of the same name. "The result is absolutely nothing like I ever would have imagined." That's from a new video launching today at nonesuch.com/media, in which Pat takes viewers behind the scenes of Orchestrion. Says The Guardian: "The Orchestrion reconciles his love of old-fashioned, unamplified live performance with his restless urge to innovate."

k.d. lang will join Tony Bennett on stage again to headline the San Francisco Symphony’s 2010 Black & White Ball on May 22. The concert will include duets as well as individual performances at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall with all proceeds going to support the Symphony’s Adventures in Music education program. The pair's 1994 duet "Moonglow" will be part of Recollection, the forthcoming k.d. lang career retrospective, out February 9.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops' Nonesuch debut, Genuine Negro Jig, is out now. The BBC calls it "an extraordinary and stylish album," its highlight a "pickin’, fiddlin’ and slappin’ version of Blu Cantrell’s 'Hit ‘em Up Style.'"

The Low Anthem performed at Saturday's multi-artist Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert in Boston; the Boston Globe included the set among the event's highlights, calling the group "a dazzlingly talented bunch." Now comes word that the band will be headlining its first North American tour this spring and making its US television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman this Thursday. It will also spend much of February supporting The Avett Brothers on the road.

Steve Reich joined So Percussion on stage in a performance of his 1972 work Clapping Music—"still one of his most audacious and breathtaking creations," says the San Francisco Chronicle—for a "marvelous" all-Reich program at Stanford. Featured were some of Reich's "groundbreaking percussion works" that sounded "as magical and arresting as ever," says the Chronicle, and the US premiere of Reich's Mallet Quartet. At the hands of the performers, said the Mercury News, it sounded "irresistible."

David Byrne presents a short video/audio lecture called Creation in Reverse at The Bell House in Brooklyn, New York, tonight. The program looks at the ways that venue and context shape artistic creation and will be followed by an audience Q&A. The event is free, and admission is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Byrne's collaboration with Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love, is due out on April 6.

The Low Anthem performs in Boston to benefit the Red Sox Foundation's Foundation to Be Named Later ... Carolina Chocolate Drops kick off tour in Georgia and South Carolina ... Steve Reich joins So Percussion for Clapping Music at Stanford ... Allen Toussaint plays Kansas City and debuts on Austin City Limits ... Sara Watkins returns to A Prairie Home Companion ... and more ...

The Carolina Chocolate Drops begin their two-month tour tonight at the Melting Pot in Athens, Georgia. To mark the start of the tour, the band's forthcoming Nonesuch debut, Genuine Negro Jig, is now available for pre-order in the US at nonesuch.com with seven exclusive bonus tracks recorded live. In the UK, where the tour heads later this month, the BBC's The Strand included the band in its predictions for "great art and artists in 2010."

Sara Watkins returns to the set of NPR's A Prairie Home Companion, joining host Garrison Keillor and crew for a live broadcast from San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House Saturday afternoon. Sara, whom the show describes as "a bright shining star of modern bluegrass," will be this week's special guest, along with Metropolitan Opera tenor Raúl Melo.

Oumou Sangare and Audra McDonald have been nominated for NAACP Image Awards: Oumou for her latest album, Seya, and Audra for her work on the ABC series Private Practice. Audra will be performing on ABC tonight, singing "God Bless America" during the pregame show at the National Championship football game in Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium.