True Grit has been nominated for a remarkable 10 Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay for Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Lead Actor for Jeff Bridges, and Supporting Actress for Hailee Steinfeld. Composer Carter Burwell's score for True Grit, which was ineligible due to a technicality, earns five stars from Audiophile Audition. "With evocative radiance, majestic landscapes and human drama are captured with plaintive beauty ... A memorable movie will invariably have a memorable soundtrack." True Grit was recently nominated for eight BAFTA Film Awards.

The Barbican in London has announced its Classical Music 2011–12 season, which includes a Kronos Quartet residency with a program of American music and a special mediation on the anniversary of 9/11; two concerts from the LSO celebrating Steve Reich's 75th birthday; and the UK premiere of Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach in conjunction with the Cultural Olympiad's London 2012 Festival.

There's just one more day till the release of Wanda Jackson's new album, The Party Ain't Over, produced by Jack White; they'll celebrate as musical guests on Conan on Tuesday. Jackson is featured in the New York Times, which traces her influence on generations of performers. The Boston Globe cites "delicious and unexpected delights on her new album." The Washington Post calls it "wild fun." Vanity Fair calls it "inspired ... unmistakably and perfectly 'Wanda.'” The Detroit Free Press sees it as "a fun, feel-good achievement." The Independent names it CD of the Week, one that "cannot help but put a smile on your face." The Times of London calls it "extraordinary."

With just over a week to go before the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams's Nixon in China and the Nonesuch reissue of the original cast recording, Q2— the online new-music stream of New York public radio station WQXR—celebrated last week with a weeklong immersion in long-form works by the composer. The series proved so popular, Q2 will air an encore presentation starting today, featuring El Niño, A Flowering Tree, Doctor Atomic Symphony, Nixon in China, and The Death of Klinghoffer.

Brad Mehldau and the musicians featured on his 2010 Nonesuch release, Highway Rider, gave the final live performance of the album, at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles Friday night. The Los Angeles Times says: "It wasn't classical-jazz, jazz-pop or some other hyphenated hybrid. It was just a great ride." Mehldau gives a New York Times–recommended solo set at Carnegie Hall this week, featuring songs off Highway Rider and Mehldau's forthcoming Live in Marciac, as well as works by Brahms, Bach, Fauré, Radiohead, and Jeff Buckley.

The Black Keys made their debut on PBS's Austin City Limits this past weekend, when the set they recorded last October aired on PBS stations across the US, along with a set from Sonic Youth. The Black Keys' set includes "Next Girl," "Howlin' for You," "Tighten Up," and "She's Long Gone," from their latest Nonesuch release, Brothers; "I Got Mine" from 2008's Attack & Release; as well as earlier songs "Thickfreakness" and "I'll be Your Man." Watch "Tighten Up" here and the entire episode at pbs.org.

Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman give final live performance of complete Highway Rider at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA ... Timothy Andres plays in NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival ... The Black Keys' Austin City Limits set airs on PBS ... Shawn Colvin plays Washington state ... Ben Folds kicks off tour in Minneapolis ... Philip Glass pays tribute to Allen Ginsberg with Patti Smith in Paris ... Wanda Jackson, Jack White play sold-out shows in NYC, LA ... Audra McDonald sings at Utah State  ... Randy Newman has solo shows in Arkansas, Texas ... Punch Brothers play three shows in the Midwest ...  Allen Toussaint launches weekly series in NYC ... Dawn Upshaw sings Bartók, Berio with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra ... and more ...

Wanda Jackson rocked out with Jack White and The Third Man House Band on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Shakin' All Over," the opening track of her forthcoming album, The Party Ain't Over. "Wasn't that tremendous!" Letterman exclaimed. "That was fantastic." Watch it here. Nonesuch is giving away tickets to their sold-out shows in New York and LA, which the Los Angeles Times calls "a can't miss scorcher of an evening."

The Black Keys' set for the long-running PBS performance show Austin City Limits, recorded late last year, will air on PBS stations across the US this Saturday night starting at 9 PM ET/PT. This weekend's episode marks the band's Austin City Limits debut. Also on the show are noise rock pioneers Sonic Youth. For a taste of what's to come, watch The Black Keys' performance of "Tighten Up" from Austin City Limits and go behind the scenes here.

Ben Folds brought 2010 to a close on a high note, with his Nick Hornby collaboration, Lonely Avenue, having made a number of year-end best lists and The Sing-Off, the NBC singing competition of which he was a judge, a smash hit. Folds is now set to bring music from both to venues across the US as he launches his 2011 tour with support from Sing-Off finalists Street Corner Symphony. Folds then tours Europe, Australia, and Japan in the coming months.

Jessica Lea Mayfield’s Nonesuch Records debut, Tell Me, is due out February 8 and is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive signed 7” of the album’s first single, “Our Hearts Are Wrong.” Mayfield will tour throughout 2011, including shows with The Avett Brothers and Justin Townes Earle as well as newly added headlining dates to follow the release of the album.

Carnegie Hall has just announced its 2011–2012 season, which will feature performances by a number of artists familiar to Nonesuch Journal readers, including Audra McDonald, Kronos Quartet, Richard Goode, Dawn Upshaw, Alarm Will Sound, and, making his Carnegie Hall premiere, Cheikh Lô. The Carnegie Hall season will also see the New York premiere of works by John Adams, Philip Glass, and Louis Andriessen.