Laurie Anderson and Terry Riley will be inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters when it holds its annual induction and award ceremony in mid-May, joining eleven other new members, including Carroll Dunham, Julian Schnabel, Edwidge Danticat, Mary Gaitskill, and Colson Whitehead. An exhibition of art, architecture, books, and manuscripts by new members and recipients of awards will be on view in the Academy's galleries in NYC from May 21 to June 21.

The Magnetic Fields’ Quickies will be released on Nonesuch on May 29, 2020. The five 7" vinyl box set features twenty-eight new short songs by Stephin Merritt, ranging in length from thirteen seconds to two minutes and thirty-five seconds. Preorder in the Nonesuch Store to download "The Day the Politicians Died" (the video for which can be seen here) now and get an exclusive, limited-edition print autographed by Merritt.

Yola was on The Late Late Show with James Corden last night to perform "I Don't Wanna Lie," a song from the digital deluxe edition of her Grammy-nominated debut album, Walk Through Fire. You can watch it here.

The Black Keys have announced a thirty-five-date "Let's Rock" summer tour with performances in cities including Seattle, Dallas, Boston, New York, Tampa, and Jacksonville. Each date on the tour will feature direct support by Gary Clark Jr., except the Berkeley concert with Allah-Las. Jessy Wilson and The Marcus King Band will each open select dates on the first half of the tour, and Yola will open for the twenty-concert second leg, starting in Cleveland on August 11. Tickets for all dates will go on sale on February 28.

Pat Metheny's new album, From This Place, is out now. "A breathtakingly immersive experience that affirms Metheny as a consummate musical storyteller," exclaims Mojo. "A transcendent album, possibly the maestro’s most impressive opus yet." "Impressively conceived and impeccably executed," says Jazzwise, "From This Place is Metheny's finest album to date." Stereogum says: "This is extraordinary music." Metheny is joined on the album by drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda May Han Oh, pianist Gwilym Simcock, the Hollywood Studio Symphony led by Joel McNeely, and special guests Meshell Ndegeocello, Gregoire Maret, and Luis Conte.

Gaby Moreno performs at The Town Hall in NYC as special guest of Fatoumata Diawara … Gabriel Kahane joins violinist Pekka Kuusisto in Helsinki … Chris Thile hosts Live From Here from NYC … Daniel Wohl performs in Germany as special guest of A Winged Victory for the Sullen … Yola concludes her winter Walk Through Fire tour in California …

Composer-performer Daniel Wohl, whose album État was released on New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records last year, begins a European tour as the special guest of A Winged Victory for the Sullen at De Duif in Amsterdam tonight. The fourteen-concert tour continues in Germany, Belgium, Ireland, and the UK, including shows at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Round Chapel in London, and Dublin's National Concert Hall. 

Sam Gendel's Nonesuch debut album, Satin Doll, due March 13, is a futuristic homage to historical jazz. Here, Gendel speaks with writer Sophie Harris about the album, a sonic construction / deconstruction of well-known jazz standards like Miles Davis's "Freddie Freeloader," Charles Mingus's "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," and Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll."

Rachael & Vilray are guests on the latest episode of NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The duo spoke with Fresh Air producer Sam Briger and performed several songs from their self-titled debut album. "I'm glad Sam introduced me to their music," host Terry Gross says in her introduction, "and I think you'll enjoy it too." You can hear the session here.

Gaby Moreno's Nonesuch debut album, ¡Spangled!, a collaboration with Van Dyke Parks, was released late last year. Moreno marked the album's release with a concert at Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Hall in NYC on December 2, as part of the Ecstatic Music series. She was joined by Metropolis Ensemble and LADAMA, the all-women Latin alternative band, to perform Parks' arrangements of songs from the album. You can now watch seven songs from the concert here.

The celebrated production of David Byrne’s American Utopia will return to Broadway’s Hudson Theatre in September 2020. The current run ends today; tickets for the return engagement are on sale now. “It’s become obvious to us in the band, the crew and the producer team that audiences want—dare I say need?—to see this show," Byrne says. "They’re not ready to have it disappear just yet. We feel the same way, we love doing this show. So, it’s thrilling to us that we can announce that we’ll be back in September.” He will perform with the American Utopia Broadway musicians on Saturday Night Live on February 29.

k.d. lang gave her inimitable rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" to a sold-out crowd at ANZ Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday for the Fire Fight Australia concert to benefit Australian bushfire relief, hosted by Celeste Barber. The audience, in the words of 7News Australia, “was brought to a standstill by a haunting performance" from lang. You can watch it here and see why.