Nonesuch releases saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau's Nearness, the longtime friends' and collaborators' first duo album, on September 9, 2016. Nearness, a selection of duets recorded live during their recent European tour, is available to pre-order now with an instant download of the album track “Ornithology." Redman and Mehldau are "among the most potent and influential jazz instrumentalists of their generation," says the Ottawa Citizen, creating "world-class improvising before rapt audiences."

Nonesuch Records releases Devendra Banhart's new album, Ape in Pink Marble, on September 23, 2016. The album, his ninth, was written, produced, arranged, and recorded in Los Angeles by Banhart with his longtime collaborators Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick, both of whom also worked on his most recent album, Mala. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an instant download of the album's opening track "Middle Names," which you can hear here, and a limited-edition, autographed print of a drawing by Banhart.

Allen Toussaint’s band, Irma Thomas, and Cyril Neville pay tribute to the late New Orleans legend in NYC … Laurie Anderson is guest artistic director of Metamorphosis festival in Athens … The Black Keys' Austin City Limits set re-airs on PBS … Kronos Quartet is artist-in-residence at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam … Lake Street Dive tours Texas … Pat Metheny is in Eastern Europe … Joshua Redman Quartet plays Indiana, Massachusetts … The Staves close out headline tour … Chris Thile leads American Acoustic festival in DC … Rokia Traoré performs at Glatsonbury … and more …

Tyondai Braxton has released a new five-song EP, Oranged Out, via Bandcamp, proceeds from which will support the work of Everytown for Gun Safety. A video for the title track, by Grace Villamil, may be seen here. Braxton will mark the release with a performance at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on July 22. He also has a number of European dates, with more to be announced. Oranged Out EP is a collection of tracks from or near the time Braxton was working on his Nonesuch debut album, HIVE1.

American Acoustic, a Chris Thile–curated festival at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, gets under way this evening and runs through Saturday. The performances feature collaborations between Thile and performers including Punch Brothers, Michael Daves, Edgar Meyer, and others. "One of the thesis statements of the week is going to be to look beyond genre and examine and celebrate the similarities between great instances of music making, rather than the differences," Thile tells the Washington Post.

Audra McDonald joined scores of fellow members of the Broadway community last week to record Burt Bacharach / Hal David's "What the World Needs Now Is Love" for a new charitable initiative, Broadway for Orlando. The song, released by Broadway Records, is available to purchase at the label's site. The recording was made to honor the victims of the Orlando shooting massacre at Pulse nightclub; 100% of the proceeds from sales of the song will benefit the GLBT Center of Central Florida. Playbill filmed a music video of the recording, which you can watch here.

Punch Brothers and Emmylou Harris return to Telluride Bluegrass Festival … Tyondai Braxton headlines Switchboard Music Festival in San Francisco … Olivia Chaney tours England with Ben Folds … Lake Street Dive heads South … Pat Metheny tours Italy … Joshua Redman Quartet plays Seattle … The Staves play Brooklyn, Firefly Festival … Rokia Traoré peforms in France … and more …

Allen Toussaint's final recording, American Tunes, was released last week to critical acclaim, with three new and noteworthy reviews just in. American Tunes adds "an elegant new perspective on Toussaint's legacy," says NPR's All Things Considered. "He sings the same way he plays piano: gracefully, using understatement to devastating effect, says reviewer Tom Moon. "That kind of poise is easy to overlook, but it's crucial to just about everything on this delightful survey of American tunes. And it's one of the qualities that made Allen Toussaint an American treasure." Listen to the review here. The album is "an elegant and fitting adieu from the New Orleans master," says the AP. "Toussaint makes a fine final impression on American Tunes, a repertoire as rich as his own contributions to music over a nearly 60-year career."Stereophile names American Tunes its Recording of the Month, calling it "a fantastic and esoteric tour through the Great American Songbook, as selected by the old master himself."

Olivia Chaney plays six shows as special guest of Ben Folds on his UK tour with the yMusic ensemble, starting this Friday. She performs songs from her debut album, The Longest River, in shows at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Sage Gateshead, Brighton Dome, and Cambridge Corn Exchange, as well as two nights at the London Palladium. You can hear Chaney perform songs from the album on WXPN's Folkadelphia here.

Composer John Adams and director/librettist Peter Sellars are joining forces once again to create Girls of the Golden West, a new opera set during the 1850s California Gold Rush to be presented by San Francisco Opera at the War Memorial Opera House in seven performances in November 2017. The opera is being co-commissioned and co-produced by San Francisco Opera, The Dallas Opera, Amsterdam's Dutch National Opera, and Teatro La Fenice, Venice. This premiere will be a part of the John Adams at 70 celebrations, featuring performances of his work around the world throughout 2017.

The SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco has announced its 2016–17 concert season and featured among the performers taking the Miner Auditorium stage in the venue's fifth anniversary season are Pat Metheny with his new quartet; Brad Mehldau, revisiting his acclaimed 2010 album Highway Rider with his Trio, Joshua Redman, Mark Guiliana, and a chamber orchestra; and Emmylou Harris, who joins Rosanne Cash and Lucinda Williams in concert. Tickets go on sale to members on Saturday, June 25, and to the general public on Wednesday, July 13.

Lake Street Dive—which took some time from its ongoing US tour to perform at a special event at The White House yesterday!—has announced a North American tour for this September and October. In addition to previously announced shows at Wang Theatre in Boston and Radio City Music Hall in NYC, the tour includes stops in Nashville, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Knoxville, Madison, Providence, and more, culminating in two nights at Union Transfer in Philadelphia.