Bolivian-born singer and multimedia performer Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti and Chicago expat jazz drummer Frank Rosaly will release MESTIZX, their debut full-length album as co-composers, arrangers, and musicians, May 3 on International Anthem / Nonesuch Records. Partners in both marriage and art, the Amsterdam-based duo dove deep into the sounds of their respective ancestral roots in Bolivia, Brazil, and Puerto Rico to create this deeply personal meditation on decolonization and the defiant power of ritual and protest.

The 2024 Big Ears Festival is next week, taking place in venues throughout downtown Knoxville, TN, March 21–24, with more than a dozen Nonesuch artists past, present, and future performing as part of the label's 60th anniversary celebrations. In addition to all of the music and film offerings, Big Ears also hosts a number of artist conversations with music journalists Ann Powers and Nate Chinen, including talks with Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Brad Mehldau, Davóne Tines, and Yasmin Williams.

Haitian-American singer and composer Nathalie Joachim stopped by WNYC Studios in New York City to talk with New Sounds’ Soundcheck host John Schaefer and perform three songs from her new album, Ki moun ou ye: "Kenbe m," "Kouti yo," and the title track. You can hear the conversation and live set and watch the performances here.

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy joined Cheryl Pawelski in conversation at a Recording Academy event in Chicago celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the band's groundbreaking album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The super deluxe anniversary edition of the album, released in September 2022, earned them the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album in 2023 as compilation producers and writer Bob Mehr the Grammy for Best Album Notes. You can watch their conversation here.

The Black Keys have debuted the third track off their upcoming album, Ohio Players, out April 5: "This Is Nowhere," written by Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, and Beck. The track follows the album single “Beautiful People (Stay High)” and the band's rendition of William Bell's "I Forgot To Be Your Lover." 

Cécile McLorin Salvant begins a five-city European Ogresse tour conducted by Darcy James Argue at Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. John Adams and Steve Reich's music is performed in Haarlem and Paris. Richard Goode plays Beethoven in New Jersey. Hurray for the Riff Raff is in Burlington and Toronto. Kronos Quartet performs to Sam Green’s live documentary about the group in California. Mandy Patinkin is in Tallahassee. Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion are in Berlin.

"Rhiannon Giddens is one of those people where I feel like they have to start inventing new awards, because she's already won all of them," Song Exploder host Hrishikesh Hirway says of his guest. On the latest episode, Giddens talks about "You Louisiana Man," breaking down the song from her new album, You're the One. You can hear what she had to say about it here.

"Recently we announced a variety of activities that would take place in 2024 to celebrate Nonesuch’s 60th Anniversary," writes Nonesuch Records President David Bither in the Nonesuch Journal. "But I would like for a moment to reflect on the contribution of the individual most responsible for what Nonesuch has come to stand for: Bob Hurwitz, who ran Nonesuch from 1984 to 2016 and was our Chairman Emeritus from 2017 to 2023." You can read his note here.

Following Kronos Quartet’s historic 50th-anniversary season, longtime members John Sherba (violin) and Hank Dutt (viola) will retire from the ensemble at the end of June. Dutt joined Kronos in 1977; he and founder David Harrington (violin) recruited Sherba to join the group in 1978. Between now and the end of June, Sherba and Dutt will perform more than 20 shows with Harrington and cellist Paul Wiancko, who joined the quartet in 2023, culminating at the ninth annual Kronos Festival at the SFJAZZ Center. Kronos will enter its sixth decade with two new members: violinist Gabriela Díaz and violist Ayane Kozasa will join Harrington and Wiancko.

Hurray for the Riff Raff is in Philadelphia and Woodstsock. John Adams’ Frenzy gets world premiere at the Barbican in London. Sam Amidon tours New England with This Is The Kit. Jeremy Denk joins Danish String Quartet in Denmark. Kronos Quartet is in Berkeley. Mandy Patinkin is in California and Colorado. Cécile McLorin Salvant joins Jon Batiste at Montreux Jazz Festival Miami. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway play WinterWonderGrass Steamboat in Colorado.

Julia Bullock is on the latest episode of the Criminal podcast to talk with host Phoebe Judge about singer/songwriter Connie Converse on this year's 50th anniversary of Converse's disappearance. "'One by One' is about seeking connection in times when maybe you're feeling isolated and acknowledging that you are in communion with other people, even in times of great despair," Bullock says of the Converse song, which she sings on her Grammy Award–winning debut solo album, Walking in the Dark. "Sometimes I'm struck with searing emotion while singing her songs, which in some ways is sort of surprising, because it's not like the melodies are really demanding, but I think she found this extraordinary way to release emotion."

Girls of the Golden West, John Adams’ eighth music theater work to be released by Nonesuch, is due April 26. The composer leads the LA Phil in this recording made in Disney Hall, with the Los Angeles Master Chorale led by Grant Gershon. You can hear the aria "Wagon Ride," featuring Davóne Tines and Julia Bullock, now. For the opera, which tells the story of the California Gold Rush, longtime Adams collaborator Peter Sellars drew from original sources from the era—letters, journals, newspaper articles, and familiar song lyrics—to create the libretto. The cast also includes Paul Appleby, Hye Jung Lee, Elliot Madore, Daniela Mack, and Ryan McKinny.