Devendra Banhart and Rokia Traoré kick off Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, the Barbican's month-long celebration of Nonesuch Records’ 50th anniversary, with an “unplugged” evening of recent and past material at the Barbican Hall in London tonight. This concert marks a return to the Barbican for both singer/songwriters: Banhart performed there in support of his Nonesuch debut album, Mala, last year, and Traoré performed there in 2012, during which she offered a three-night series of Malian music and a performance of Desdemona, her collaboration with Peter Sellars and Toni Morrison. Traoré goes on to perform a free set at the Teatro Chiostro di San Nicolò in Rome on Saturday, bringing with her the music of her latest Nonesuch album, Beautiful Africa.

Next weekend, the Nonesuch celebrations continue with two sold-out concerts from Natalie Merchant at Guildhall School’s new Milton Court Concert Hall on May 10 and 11. A few days later, Kronos Quartet offers an evening of commissioned works by favorite composers and collaborators from throughout Kronos’ history, including a UK premiere by Philip Glass and a world premiere by The National’s Bryce Dessner, at the Barbican Hall on May 13.

At the center of the Explorations is a marathon weekend, May 17 and 18, of five London concerts taking place in LSO St Luke’s, Milton Court, and the Barbican Hall. Featured among the weekend's events are performances by artists including Jonny Greenwood, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Timo Andres, Sam Amidon, Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens, Olivia Chaney, and others performing works by Greenwood, Mehldau, Andres, Steve Reich, John Adams, Philip Glass, Frederic Rzewski, Henryk Górecki, Donnacha Dennehy, and more.

Following the marathon weekend are further one-off concerts and collaborations throughout this month, featuring a breadth of artists associated with the label and in the spirit of it, including Jeremy Denk, Emmylou Harris, Caetano Veloso, and Toumani Diabaté. There will also be a Creative Learning program including performances in primary schools to introduce students to music released on Nonesuch as well as work with emerging young musicians and Nonesuch artists to inspire a future generation of music makers. For more information, visit barbican.org.uk.

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The Black Keys, who arrived in Europe last weekend, perform an exclusive concert for Radio Eins at the Berlin Postbahnhof on Sunday. Band mates Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney return stateside for their third musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live on May 10, three days before the release of their forthcoming album, Turn Blue, on Nonesuch Records. They head back to Germany to kick off a tour of European summer festivals in June.

The Keys have also been featured on three BBC Radio shows this week: they gave an interview for BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, and performed songs from their new album on BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe show and BBC Two’s Later … with Jools Holland; fans in the UK can tune into BBC Two tonight at 11:05 PM for the full episode.

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Bombino rounds out his North American tour at Austin Psych Fest on Saturday, performing a set on the Reverberation Stage. The Tuareg guitarist, who’s debut album, Nomad, was released on Nonesuch last spring, heads to France later this month to kick off a string of dates and festival sets around Europe.

“Nomad layered on echoing haze, distortion and crunch to Bombino's winding and springy blues repetitions, adding muscle and weight,” notes the Times-Picuyne about his Dan Auerbach-produced debut album. It goes on to describe Bombino’s recent set at New Orleans JazzFest, during which “the overstuffed Blues Tent crowd stayed on its feet for nearly a full hour, bouncing in time with the band.” Read the full review at nola.com.

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David Byrne and Joshua Redman celebrate the music of elusive Nigerian synth-funk musician William Onyeabor with a two-night run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City tonight and on Saturday, as part of the month-long citywide Red Bull Music Academy Festival. The BAM event—titled “ATOMIC BOMB! The Music of William Onyeabor”—includes performances by Money Mark, Pat Mahoney, Alexis Taylor, Devonté Hynes, and the Lijadu Sisters. Previewed on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon earlier this week, the program rounds out in the West with performances in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the days ahead.

Byrne’s musical collaboration with Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love, celebrated its return to the stage at the Public Theater in New York City last night. You can see photos from the Opening Night party at broadwayworld.com. This coming Tuesday, Nonesuch releases the original cast recording, which includes seven new songs written specifically for the 2013 musical production.

Nonesuch also releases Redman’s forthcoming album, Trios Live, on June 17. The album was recorded at New York’s Jazz Standard and Washington, DC’s Blues Alley during stands with two different trios, and is available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store. To a quartet configuration, “Redman contributed a focused sax sound with harmonic precision and a strong sense of swing,” wrote the Financial Times about his recent work as curator of the Wigmore Jazz Series in London. Redman goes on to rejoin his own Quartet in Japan for a mid-May residency at the Cotton Club in Toyko.

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Jeremy Denk closes out a three-night run with the São Paulo Symphony at Sala São Paulo tonight and Saturday afternoon. The program, led by conductor Arvo Volmer, includes the overture from Schumman’s Genoveva, Op. 81; Beethoven’s Concerto No. 1, Op. 15; and two selections from Sibelius: The Bard, Op. 64, and Symphony No 3 in C Major, Op. 52. Denk heads next to California for a two-night run with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in mid-May.

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Dr. John takes the stage for “The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: A Celebration of Mac & His Music,” an all-star tribute concert in his honor at the Saenger Theater in his Big Easy hometown on Saturday, presented by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Dr. John performs his own music—including selections from his Dan Auerbach-produced Nonesuch debut album, Locked Down—alongside fellow New Orleans native son Allen Toussaint, as well as The Blind Boys of Alabama, Gregg Allman, Mavis Staples, Lucinda Williams, and many more.

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Kronos Quartet joins Finnish duo Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen to perform their 2004 collaborative piece, UNIKO, at the Centrum Kultury Katowice in Katowice, Poland, tonight, for the penultimate set of the week-long Katowice JazzArt Festival. “UNIKO was a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of avant-garde electronica, global folk styles and classical influences, with surround-sound and visual effects added in. It was an extraordinary piece of music,” writes the Guardian about the piece’s UK premiere at the Barbican in London last year. “This was adventurous, atmospheric music that entertained and constantly surprised.”

Celebrating the adventurous nature of Kronos and its 40th anniversary year, Nonesuch recently released the Kronos Explorer Series, a set of five classic albums from five different parts of the world, and A Thousand Thoughts, a new album that features music from 14 different countries.

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Pat Metheny Unity Group continues the Scandinavian leg of its world tour at the Falconer Theatre in Copenhagen on Saturday and the Concert Hall in Gothenburg on Sunday. The tour, in support of its debut album, Kin (←→), released on Nonesuch earlier this year, continues with a string of dates across Norway through the end of this week.

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Nickel Creek, following two sold-out shows in New York City and Boston, performs at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, tonight, followed by two more sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, on Saturday and Sunday. The tour—breaking the band’s 2007 self-described “indefinite hiatus”—is in support of the trio’s new Nonesuch album, A Dotted Line, recently released on Nonesuch Records.