The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, the debut album from the eponymous quartet, is out now in North America (June 8 for the rest of the world). "The album is a knockout," exclaims the New York Times. "It is impressive how much vital presence [Redman] brings to the Bad Plus without altering the band’s dynamic." It's "a roaring and beautiful summit meeting," says NPR. "The ideas are impressive by themselves, but become more powerful as Redman and the rhythm section go about developing them ... [T]he real triumph of The Bad Plus Joshua Redman: It exhibits genuinely fresh thinking." The Bad Plus Joshua Redman begins a world tour in NYC June 10.

As part of its tenth-anniversary commemoration of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity (NOAHH) has begun a ten-day, ten-home building blitz called Rebuilding America Street, in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity International's AmeriCorps Build-A-Thon. Nonesuch and Warner Bros. Records staff members are proud to join the Build-A-Thon from Memorial Day through its culmination on Saturday, May 30. In 2005, Nonesuch released the benefit album Our New Orleans, proceeds from which supported NOAHH's building of homes for Musicians' Village in New Orleans' Upper Ninth Ward.

This Memorial Day weekend, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell take their Traveling Kind tour to Texas and South Carolina ... Sam Amidon is on NPR's Mountain Stage ... Laurie Anderson performs in Germany ... Devendra Banhart tours Spain ... Jeremy Denk plays Czech in London ... Rhiannon Giddens is in Augusta, Georgia ... Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana join forces as Mehliana in the Netherlands ... Robert Plant kicks off tour in Pacific Northwest ... and more ...

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters kick off their spring and summer tour, featuring music from the album lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, at the Sasquatch! Festival in George, WA, this Sunday. The North American dates include a return to Bonnaroo and finish off at the Mann Center in Philadelphia on June 17. The Pixies will open five of the shows, and JD McPherson five. The UK and European leg of the tour begins July 10 and runs into August.

The Black Keys resume their Turn Blue world tour with a performance at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, Spain, next Thursday, May 28. The tour continues into August with festival sets in Greece, United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, and United States, including Governors Ball, Isle of Wight, Outside Lands, and many more. 

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, whose self-titled debut album is due out next week in North America and June 8 elsewhere, performed at the Detroit Jazz Festival in 2014, when Redman was Artist in Residence there. NPR's Jazz Night in America was there to capture the new quartet, fresh out of the studio. Watch the performance and an interview with the band here. The new album is streaming in full till May 25 as an NPR First Listen. The quartet kicks off a tour at the Blue Note Jazz Festival on June 10.

As David Letterman prepares his final episode as host of the Late Show tonight, the Nonesuch Journal takes a look back at some of the many memorable performances Nonesuch artists are fortunate to have played on his stage in the Ed Sullivan Theatre (and in one case, the fire escape outside it) over the years, from The Black Keys, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, Punch Brothers, Wilco, Rhiannon Giddens, Conor Oberst, Lianne La Havas, Laurie Anderson, Randy Newman, and others. Thanks for the music, Dave.

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell visited Rolling Stone to perform two songs from their new album, The Traveling Kind: the title track and "The Weight of the World." Watch both here. "If only Hollywood sequels were this good," exclaims Mother Jones of their follow-up to Old Yellow Moon. "Harris' still-beautiful voice has acquired a darker, slightly rougher texture that adds authority, while the weathered grace of Crowell's singing makes him a perfect match. A fine job by all concerned, including the stellar players." Vanity Fair calls it "a beautiful collection of duets" from "one of the most storied collaborations in country music."

Newly formed Congolese seven-piece band Mbongwana Star releases its debut full-length album, From Kinshasa, today via World Circuit, distributed in North America by Nonesuch Records; vinyl follows July 31. It's a "wonderful kind of collaboration," says NPR. "The sound is out of this world." Chicago Reader says the "album is a blast ... stunning." The Guardian gives From Kinshasa a perfect five stars, naming it Album of the Week. Says Noisey: "It's time to press play and immerse yourself in another world."

David Byrne is the guest on the latest episode of WTF with Marc Maron. "For many people, including Marc, David Byrne has served as a tour guide through a new frontier of creativity," says the show. "The frontman for Talking Heads sits down with Marc to talk about forming the preeminent new wave band of the 20th century and then branching out on his own to create work in theater, film, ballet, opera and, most recently, the world of competitive color guard performances."

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman's self-titled, debut album is due out next week and is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen at npr.org. The album is "a roaring and beautiful summit meeting," says NPR's Tom Moon. "The ideas are impressive by themselves, but become more powerful as Redman and the rhythm section go about developing them ... [T]he real triumph of The Bad Plus Joshua Redman: It exhibits genuinely fresh thinking." The album, he concludes, "draws on a range of old ideas (as old as Chopin nocturnes and '60s rock) as fuel for a journey into the murky, terrifying, thrilling unknown."

Olivia Chaney kicks off her spring tour with performances in Manchester, Edinburgh ... Devendra Banhart, Andy Cabic tour Spain, Portugal ... Rhiannon Giddens plays a weekend of sold-out shows at SFJAZZ ... Kronos Quartet performs in Wisconsin ... Audra McDonald sings in Virginia ... Joshua Redman quartet headlines the SLO Jazz Festival in San Luis Obispo ... and more ...