It's Labor Day weekend in the United States, the unofficial end of summer, and, fittingly, Daily Candy has published a list of "Songs for the Last Long Weekend" as chosen by the band Ra Ra Riot. Featured on their End-of-Summer Playlist: Amadou & Mariam's "Sabali," off their latest album, Welcome to Mali.

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As noted earlier today in the Nonesuch Journal, The Black Keys begin their three-week tour with Kings of Leon and The Whigs, performing at the Verizon Wireless Music Center outside Indianapolis tonight before heading back to their home state of Ohio to perform at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Keys step out from the tour to play the main stage of the moe.down festival at the Gelston Castle Estate in Mohawk, New York, on Sunday.

Punch Brothers are at the festival as well this weekend, due to perform on the main stage Saturday afternoon. The Utica Observer-Dispatch previews the set, saying: "This string band brings percussive guitar riffs with lyrical string parts, unexpected harmonic vocals and compelling melodies."

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As reported in the Nonesuch Journal, highlights from the Carolina Chocolate Drops' appearance on NPR's Fresh Air will be rebroadcast today. The band performs a free set at Miller Plaza in Chattanooga, Tennessee, tonight, as part of the free outdoor Nightfall Concert Series. The Chattanoogan calls it "one of the most anticipated shows of the season." The performance will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

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Rhys Chatham performs outdoors at the Scania Park in Malmö, Sweden, on Saturday as part of the free Starfield Simulation #35 event.

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Shawn Colvin plays the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center in Westhampton Beach, New York, on Saturday.

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Bill Frisell concludes his second of two weeks of performances with the Paul Motian Trio at the Village Vanguard in New York City, with sets Friday through Sunday. Joe Lovano, who had to cancel the first week, performs on tenor saxophone. The New Yorker preview of the residency says the three "remain the premiere small group of their time, able to shift from raucous to poetic in the course of a set."
   
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Richard Goode performs at the Cloitre des Jacobins in Toulouse, France, tonight as part of the Piano aux Jacobins Festival. On the program are works by Byrd, Bach, Chopin, and Schubert.

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The Low Anthem continues its tour of the European festival circuit with three more performances this weekend: the Grand Parc Miribel Jonage in Lyon, France, for the Woodstower Festival tonight; Moseley Park in Birmingham, England, for the Moseley Folk Festival on Saturday; and Stradbally Hall in Ireland for the Electric Picnic on Sunday.

Preceding The Low Anthem by a day at the Electric Picnic is Philip Selway, who continues his Familial tour of Europe with a Saturday set at the festival.

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Brad Mehldau makes his Chicago Jazz Festival debut, performing with his Trio, featuring Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums, at the Petrillo Band Shell in Chicago's Grant Park on Sunday. The Chicago Tribune, previewing the festival, says of Mehldau: "no one else playing jazz piano these days sounds quite like him." This will be the last time the three musicians perform together till the world premiere performance of Highway Rider at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis in November.

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Joshua Redman, who will join Mehldau, Ballard, Grenadier, Matt Chamberlain, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for this fall's Highway Rider performances, is in Asia with hiw own trio, featuring Matt Penman and Gregory Hutchinson. They perform at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, tonight, and at Tokyo's International Forum Hall A for the Tokyo Jazz Festival on Sunday.

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Allen Toussaint celebrates Labor Day in Detroit, performing on the Chase Main Stage of the Detroit International Jazz Festival.

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Sara Watkins, Garrison Keillor, and the cast of A Prairie Home Companion bring their Summer Love Tour back home to the Minnesota State Fair for a live radio broadcast of the show on Saturday. Watkins promises a song by Harry Nilsson and one by Randy Newman. Listen in live online Saturday at 6 PM ET at prairiehome.org.