Iron and Wine was featured on the latest episode of NPR's All Things Considered. Singer-songwriter Sam Beam, whose fifth album under that pen name, Ghost on Ghost, was released on Nonesuch Records / 4AD earlier this month, spoke with host Melissa Block about the new album, his songwriting process, and the cohesive feel that ties the songs together. 

Bombino is featured on the latest episode of the BBC World Service program Outlook, which explores "extraordinary personal stories from around the world." "Traditional music is one of the forces which has united the Tuareg people who are now scattered across many African countries," says host Matthew Bannister, "and that music has been updated for a new generation by the guitarist Omara 'Bombino' Moctar." On the show, Bombino discusses the power of music to affect change. "I hope my songs can present part of a solution," he says. "The guitar can pass on the news."

The new musical of Here Lies Love, which explores the life of Imelda Marcos, with concept and lyrics by David Byrne and music by Byrne and Fatboy Slim, has opened to rave reviews and Outer Critics Circle and Drama League award nominations. "Boogie on down—and you must—to the glittery new dance palace at the Public Theater," implores the New York Times, to hear this "insidiously infectious set of songs." Vogue calls it "a life-giving, roof-raising, booty-shaking blast of pure joy from start to finish." The Daily News exclaims: "Finally—a new musical that’s so exhilarating and such a great time that it’s easy to recommend it without hesitation." The New York Observer declares Here Lies Love "the must-see event of the season." 

Iron and Wine was the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Friday night. Singer-songwriter Sam Beam and his band gave what Consequence of Sound calls a "spirited rendition of 'Grace for Saints and Ramblers,'" a track off the new album Ghost on Ghost. They also gave a web-exclusive performance of another album track, "Grass Widows." Watch both performances here.

Brad Mehldau holds residency at the new SFJAZZ Center, performing with Kevin Hays, Mark Guiliana, and his Trio ... The Black Keys launch four-city tour with special guests The Flaming Lips in Kansas City ... New Orleans Jazz Fest gets under way with Dr. John, Joshua Redman, Allen Toussaint ... Fatoumata Diawara performs at New Orleans' House of Blues ... Bombino continues European tour in Oslo ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play sold-out shows in Wisconsin ... Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter are out west ... Richard Goode performs Beethoven in Georgia ... Iron and Wine is on Jimmy Fallon ... Lianne La Havas is at Tobago Jazz Festival ... Gidon Kremer performs in Paris and back home in Riga ... Kronos Quartet plays in Portsmouth ... Rokia Traoré is on Jools Holland ...

The 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, aka Jazz Fest, gets under way today as the first of two consecutive weekends of music unfolds. Included among this weekend's performers are Joshua Redman with his Quartet and New Orleans native sons Dr. John and Allen Toussaint. The Black Keys help close out the festival next weekend. Also in New Orleans this weekend is Fatoumata Diawara, who performs at the House of Blues. 

Iron and Wine is the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC tonight at 12:35 AM. Sam Beam and his band perform “Grace for Saints and Ramblers,” off the just-released album Ghost on Ghost. Beam stopped by New York public radio station WNYC yesterday to perform a few songs from Ghost on Ghost on Soundcheck and talk with host John Schaefer about the new album, which was recorded over two weeks in Brooklyn. You can listen to the complete episode, including solo acoustic performances of three album tunes, here.

Bombino brought his European tour, featuring music of his new album, Nomad, to London's Village Underground last night, where the crowd cheered the Tuareg guitarist "as if he were a rock star," reports the Guardian in a four-star review. Bombino's "performance from the start was energetic and full-tilt ... He was clearly enjoying himself, and his enthusiasm was contagious." The Independent, previewing the concert, describes Bombino as "brilliant" and Nomad as "a bone-shaker of a new album." The tour continues in Europe then heads to the States in late May for headline dates, festival sets, and opening spots with Amadou & Mariam, Gogol Bordello and Robert Plant. 

Sam Amidon is featured in the latest episode of the Guardian's Music Weekly podcast, discussing the often unexpected inspirations behind his forthcoming album, Bright Sunny South, which host Maddy Costa says she's "been listening to ... slightly obsessively for the past month." Amidon explains: "For me, folk music is not really so much connected to certain instruments. It's more just a quality a melody could have, or a quality a lyric could have. You can find that anywhere." He closes the interview with a performance of the Bright Sunny South track "As I Roved Out."

Joshua Redman’s new album, Walking Shadows, due out May 7, is featured on the latest episode of BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum. Cullum plays the album track "Stop This Train," written by John Mayer and Pino Palladino, and noting the album's core ensemble of Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, and Brian Blade, says: "It’s fascinating here how this band get into this very sweet melody and state it in a very simple, beautiful way, and then start improvising on the melody and go more and more inside and outside the song in the soloing. A brilliant bit of improvisation from Joshua Redman.”

Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, has announced its 2013–14 concert season, which will feature performances from a number of Nonesuch artists: Kronos Quartet, which celebrates its 40th anniversary with two concerts at Zellerbach Hall; Joshua Redman, whose Quartet performs songs from his new album, Walking Shadows; and Richard Goode, performing music by Janáček, Schubert, and Debussy. Additionally, Cal Performances and the Ojai Music Festival present Ojai North!, of which pianist Jeremy Denk is this season's music director.

The line-up for the 2013 Festival d’été de Québec, which runs July 4 to 14, has been announced and includes performances from The Black Keys on the Plains of Abraham and Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell at Parc de la Francophonie, as well as free sets from Dr. John, Amadou & Mariam, and Fatoumata Diawara at Place Metro in Place d’Youville.