Congratulations to Brad Mehldau, Attacca Quartet, and Kronos Quartet, who won Grammy Awards on Sunday, and to Yola, who performed at the Premiere Ceremony in Los Angeles at which those awards were presented. Mehldau earned his first Grammy when Finding Gabriel won for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Attacca Quartet received the Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for Caroline Shaw's Orange. Kronos Quartet's recording of Terry Riley's Sun Rings won the Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Classical; it was engineered by Leslie Ann Jones; mixed by John Kilgore, Judy Sherman, and David Harrington; and mastered by Robert C. Ludwig.

The Black Keys have announced a ten-date “Let’s Rock” tour of Canada this May. The tour begins at the Halifax Scotiabank Centre on May 5 and continues through May 19, culminating at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The band will be joined by special guests The Sheepdogs and Early James. Tickets will go on sale starting Friday.

Chris Thile and Gaby Moreno helped celebrate Dolly Parton's recent birthday with a performance of her song "Blue Smoke" for a special "Encores and Extras Compilation" episode of Live From Here last weekend. You can watch their performance of the song, as well as Thile's solo performance of "Little Sparrow," here. (Thile performed on Parton's 2001 album, Little Sparrow.) Chris Thile has several US solo concert dates in the weeks ahead, and Live From Here returns live from The Town Hall in New York City on February 8. 

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Parker's Suite for Max Brown is out now via a newly formed partnership between International Anthem and Nonesuch Records. The album, named for and dedicated to Parker's mother, features nine original songs as well as "Gnarciss," an interpretation of Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus," and John Coltrane's "After the Rain." Parker plays the majority of the instruments on the record. "The veteran guitarist has created an effortlessly detailed album, full of tradition and experimentation that spans generations," says Pitchfork. "It lives at the vanguard of new jazz music."

This Grammy weekend, Yola performs at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute concert, AmericanaFest Willie Nelson salute, and Grammy Premiere ceremony ... Giddens performs at the Nelson salute and gives the Folk Alliance keynote in New Orleans … Kronos Quartet performs Riley and Reich at Carnegie Hall … Sam Amidon is in Spain, Portugal … Laurie Anderson leads SFJAZZ residency … Devendra Banhart tours Europe … Jeremy Denk is in Santa Fe … Emmylou Harris is in North Carolina … Mandy Patinkin performs in New Haven …

Rhiannon Giddens and Emmylou Harris will receive honorary degrees from the University of North Carolina Greensboro during the Commencement ceremony in May. Both artists attended UNCG. "We are so proud to honor Rhiannon Giddens and Emmylou Harris not only for their amazing accomplishments and the indelible impact they have had on music, but for the way they have embodied UNC Greensboro’s motto of service,” said Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. “I hope that all of our students at UNCG will follow their example as they begin their own journeys and chase their own dreams.”

Early James premiered the music video for “It Doesn't Matter Now,” a new song off his upcoming debut album, Singing for My Supper, via Billboard. "The subject matter for this song is pretty heavy," says director Tim Hardiman. "I felt there needed to be some aggression on screen but didn't want it to play out like a typical break up. For some reason, Sideshow Bennie, whom I worked with several years ago, popped in my head. I looked him up and learned he was now working with a sidekick, Anna Fiametta. When I read how they met, I thought it was a funny story that would fit the song." You can watch the video here.

Yola was on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, performing "I Don't Wanna Lie," from the deluxe digital edition of her debut album, Walk Through Fire. You can watch it here. She heads to Los Angeles for the Grammys, performing at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Aerosmith on Friday, the AmericanaFest Pre-Grammy Salute to Willie Nelson on Saturday, and the Grammy Premiere Ceremony on Sunday afternoon. Yola has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist.

Yola recently stopped by Minnesota Public Radio's The Current to perform three songs from her multiple Grammy-nominated album, Walk Through Fire—the title track, "Ride Out in the Country," and "Shady Grove"—and talk with host Bill DeVille about her life and music. You can watch it here. And tune in to see her on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight.

Vagabon has announced a headlining spring tour of North America. The tour begins at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on March 31 and continues through May 17, culminating with a concert at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana, California. Vagabon stopped by WFUV in NYC to perform two songs from her self-titled new album, "Every Woman" and "In a Bind," for FUV Live, which you can watch here.

The original cast recording for Dave Malloy's musical Octet—recorded live during Signature Theatre's world premiere production—is now available on CD, following its digital release late last year. Featuring a score for an a cappella chamber choir and an original libretto inspired by internet comment boards, scientific debates, religious texts, and Sufi poetry, Octet explores addiction and nihilism within the messy context of twenty-first century technology. "The most original and topical musical of the year," says the New York Times; "the sublime a cappella chamber opera is a portrait in song of perhaps the greatest David and Goliath struggle of our time."

Jeff Parker has released a new track, "Gnarciss," from his forthcoming album, Suite for Max Brown, out next Friday, January 24, on International Anthem and Nonesuch Records. The song is an interpretation of Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus" and follows the recent release of another track, "Go Away," one of nine Parker originals on the album. You can hear "Gnarciss" here.