It's a lucky Friday the 13th indeed as the internationally acclaimed ensemble Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club kicks off the US leg of their world tour in style, with a performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight. Tune in to NBC at 11:35 PM to see the show. First on the tour are two stops in Arizona this weekend: at the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall in Tucson on Saturday, and the Mesa Arts Center’s Ikeda Theater in Mesa on Sunday.

Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club features a 15-member lineup of Cuban musicians, including lead vocalists Omara Portuondo and Eliades Ochoa, trumpeter Manuel ”Guajiro” Mirabal, trombonist Jesus ”Aguaje” Ramos, and laúd player Barbarito Torres, all of whom count themselves among the original Buena Vista ensemble. Opening these Copper State sets with his quintet is Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, who has collaborated and toured with Buena Vista Social Club members since 2001.

The Orquesta tour continues through mid-October and includes stops in San Francisco, Indianapolis, Chicago, Austin, and Atlanta, among others; it rounds out with two dates at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The group is set to launch its first national tour of Cuba in January.

---

Bombino performs at Teatro Oscar in Milan tonight, followed by two shows in Switzerland: at Palace in St. Gallen on Saturday, and at Salzhaus in Winterthur on Sunday. His European tour, featuring songs from his recently-released Nonesuch debut album, Nomad, continues through mid-November.

---

Carolina Chocolate Drops, as part of their on-going North American tour, play two festival sets this weekend: at the Mountain Song Festival at Brevard’s Music Center in North Carolina tonight, and the Ohio River Throwdown at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati on Saturday.

---

Jeremy Denk launches his US fall tour with a sold-out solo performance of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the Gardner Museum’s Calderwood Hall in Boston Sunday afternoon. Denk performs the piece on his new album, which will be released on Nonesuch in the US on September 30 (October 21 internationally) with a DVD containing video “liner notes,” available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. Denk’s 15-city fall tour continues with stops in Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, among others.

---

Composer Donnacha Dennehy kicks off a three-day residency at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, tonight, during which conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) and soprano Jessica Rivera in a performance of That the Night Come, the composer’s song-cycle based on six settings of poems by fellow Irishman W.B. Yeats. The pieceis featured on Dennehy’s 2011 debut album, Grá agus Bás.

As well as the song-cycle, the program includes Lissant-Collins’ Fuquoi in the Sugar Cane and two works by Strauss: the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier and Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, and will be given additional performances on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Dennehy’s FWSO residency continues next year.

---

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell continue their North American duo tour with two dates in Texas this weekend: at Kyle Field in College Station for Texas A&M University’s spirited “First Yell” tonight, co-headlining with Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen, and the Majestic Theater in Dallas on Saturday, joined by special guest Rhett Miller. The performances feature music from Harris and Crowell’s recently-released Nonesuch album, Old Yellow Moon.

---

Kronos Quartet, as part of its 40th-anniversary season, made its Bogotá debut on Monday and performs the final three out of five dates in the city this weekend: at Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo tonight; National University’s Auditorio León de Greiff on Saturday; and La Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango del Banco de la República on Sunday.

The Colombian residency features different and eclectic concert programs each night, including works by Wagner, Jerry Garcia, and Laurie Anderson, along with recent commissions like Thomas Newman’s It Got Dark (performed with the Bogotá Philharmonic) and selections from John Zorn’s The Dead Man.

---

k.d. lang, who was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame earlier this year, performs at Barefoot in the Backyard, a benefit concert led by her fellow Canadian songstress Sarah McLachlan in Edmonton, Alberta, lang’s home province, on Saturday. All proceeds go towards McLachlan’s School of Music, the state university’s Music Program, the Edmonton Opera and the Alberta Ballet.

As noted earlier today in the Nonesuch Journal, k.d. lang will make her Broadway debut in the new musical After Midnight beginning February 11, 2014. 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. Tickets for lang's engagement go on sale November 4.

---

Lianne La Havas takes the main stage at the Festival No. 6, taking place in the picturesque Castle Park of Portmeirion, Wales, on Saturday. Her set features songs from her Nonesuch debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?.

---

Audra McDonald returns to the University of Michigan’s Musical Society to perform at the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Sunday afternoon. Conductor Kenneth Kiesler leads the University Symphony Orchestra with McDonald’s music director Andy Einhorn on piano for an evening of classic standards, favorite show tunes, and original pieces, including songs from her latest Nonesuch album, Go Back Home. Directly preceding the concert is a panel discussion at Rackham Assembly Hall about the legacy of American songwriters, with a special emphasis on George and Ira Gershwin.

McDonald spoke with both the Detroit News and Ann Arbor News about this Sunday’s show and the new album. You can read the articles at detroitnews.com and annarbor.com, respectively.

---

Allen Toussaint performs at the Bear's Den at Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, New York, tonight. The Niagara Gazette, previewing the show, includes Toussaint among “the best of the best … a music legend and American treasure.” Earlier this week, Toussaint joined fellow New Orleans native Dr. John for a benefit concert in their hometown supporting the Crimestoppers organization.