Rhiannon Giddens reunites with her former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, due April 18. Produced by Giddens and Joseph "joebass" DeJarnette, the album features Giddens on banjo and Robinson on fiddle, playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes. Many were learned from their late mentor, legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson; one is from another musical hero, the late Etta Baker. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation Mill Prong House, accompanied by the sounds of nature, including two different broods of cicadas, which had not emerged simultaneously since 1803, creating a true once-in-a-lifetime soundscape. A video of “Hook and Line,” a traditional tune from Joe Thompson’s repertoire and filmed at his home in Mebane, NC, may be seen here. The duo, along with four other string musicians, embarks on Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue Tour April 25.

"Multiple Grammy Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Cécile McLorin Salvant is a fearless singer, composer, and visual artist who is one of the most highly regarded jazz vocalists of her generation," David Krauss, MET Opera Principal Trumpet and host of the Speaking Soundly podcast, says of his guest. You can hear their conversation about Salvant's life and music, including her Carnegie Hall Perspectives series this concert season, here.