John Adams's Saxophone Concerto, as heard on a new album with the title piece, City Noir, "is a gleaming vehicle for virtuoso saxophonist Timothy McAllister," says NPR's Thomas Huizenga. "He nails the fluent angularity and punchiness in the music with a lyrical touch somewhere comfortably between jazz and classical styles ... You can hear the influence of swing music, and the more frenetic pacing of great bebop sax men like Charlie Parker, over Adams' pulsating orchestra." McAllister gives the West Coast premiere of the piece at the Cabrillo Festival in August.

Carolina Chocolate Drops kick off a summer tour of the United States and Europe at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, tonight, followed by sets at the Chicago Blues Festival and Bonaroo Music and Arts Festival this weekend. The tour includes shows across the US, including the Midwest, East Coast, West Coast, and more, before heading to the UK and Europe in late August. The band hits the road in the US again this fall. 

Björk's Biophilia App has now been made the first downloadable App added to the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. "Björk has never ceased to experiment and surprise," says MoMA Senior Curator Paola Antonelli. "The multidimensional nature of her art ... is a testament to her curiosity and desire to learn and team up with diverse experts and creators." Antonelli concludes: "True innovation ... supported by great art is a mesmerizing gift to the world." The Biophilia Education Program, which teaches about the relationships between music, science and technology, will be adopted for the curriculum in a number of Scandinavian countries, Björk tells the Observer. 

Louis Andriessen’s Grawemeyer Award–winning La Commedia is out now, as a two-CD-plus-DVD set. The film opera, a collaboration with director Hal Hartley, is based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, with additional texts including the Old Testament’s “Song of Songs.” This Dutch National Opera production features the Asko and Schönberg Ensembles, led by Reinbert de Leeuw. The Washington Post calls La Commedia "an exciting, powerful and rich piece that shows Andriessen at the top of his game." The Los Angeles Times considers it "the greatest opera of the century so far." 

Congratulations to Audra McDonald, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill. This marks a historic sixth Tony Award win for McDonald, the most ever for a performer. Watch her acceptance speech here. She recently won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for her portrayal of the legendary jazz singer. 

Brad Mehldau plays three nights at the Blue Note in NYC with Christian McBride ... John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls is performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra ... Louis Andriessen turns 75 ... Bombino is in Italy ... Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle close out duo tour in Chicago ... Richard Goode joins Deutsche Symphonie Orchester in Berlin ... Emmylou Harris plays pet rescue benefit in Nashville ... Kronos Quartet plays Philip Glass with Nederlands Dans Theater ... Pat Metheny Unity Group tours Europe ... Conor Oberst plays the Ryman ... Robert Plant is in the Netherlands ... Joshua Redman Quartet tours Australia ... Allen Toussaint is in Chicago ... and more ...

Nickel Creek recently stopped by Last.fm to discuss their new album, A Dotted Line, and the band's officially reuniting for the first time since its 2007 self-described "indefinite hiatus." The trio—Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins—also performs two songs from the new album, "Destination" and "Rest of My Life." You can watch the interview and performances here and catch the band live on tour in the US this summer. 

The new album of John Adams's City Noir and Saxophone Concerto is out now, performed by the St. Louis Symphony led by David Robertson, featuring saxophonist Timothy McAllister. "Dense, brash and exuberant," raves the New York Times, "these two stellar works by John Adams are love letters to the confidence of the 1950s and a time when some of the greatest feats of virtuosity were often performed in smoky jazz clubs." It's "an incisive performance," says the Times; "McAllister sizzles." The Times of London gives the album four stars, calling the concerto "fun from start to finish."

The Black Keys' Patrick Carney, fresh off the release of the band's new album, Turn Blue, and its debut as the #1 album, spoke with Carrie Brownstein, of the band Sleater-Kinney and the IFC show Portlandia for The Talkhouse Podcast. The Black Keys opened for Sleater-Kinney back in 2003. "It’s a revealing, thought-provoking conversation that only two musicians could have," says The Talkhouse. You can hear it for yourself here.

The cast recording of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's Here Lies Love, featuring the original 2013 Public Theater cast of the musical starring Ruthie Ann Miles as Imelda Marcos, earns a nine out of ten from PopMatters. The 2010 song-cycle recording "was a magnificent achievement," exclaims PopMatters, "by turns catchy, clever, and insightful." And still, the newly released cast album "is even better." It "takes one to a wondrous world," says the site, citing Miles's "sumptuous singing," and concluding: "the music is exceedingly seductive."

The Black Keys have confirmed several additional North American tour dates, including shows in Ottawa, Oakland, Sacramento, and Los Angeles as well as additional nights in Brooklyn and Chicago. Special guests during the extensive tour include Cage The Elephant, Jake Bugg, and St. Vincent. The tour begins September 5 in Columbus, Ohio, and runs through December. Pre-sale for newly announced dates begins Tuesday, June 3, at 10 AM local time; general on sale starts Friday, June 6, at 10 AM local.

Concerts and talks of the 68th Ojai Music Festival, of which Jeremy Denk is 2014 Music Director, will be streamed live and archived at the Festival's site, June 12–15. Ojai Live features an enhanced HD five-camera shoot and intermission interviews with artists and special guests hosted by Fred Child of Performance Today. Highlights include talks and multiple performances from Denk, including the world premiere a new opera for which he wrote the libretto, and Timo Andres.