Following the Barbican and Carnegie Hall celebrations of Steve Reich's latest works early next year, some of his most iconic works will be featured in the weeklong Sacrum Profanum festival taking place in Kraków, Poland, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. In an introductory video seen here, Reich describes Sacrum Profanum as "one of the best new-music festivals in the world." Among the festival performers are Jonny Greenwood, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, and Bang on a Can.

Jessica Lea Mayfield, whose debut Nonesuch album, Tell Me, is due out February 8, has just announced several new US tour dates in February with Justin Townes Earle. In fact, the tour will bring her back to her hometown of Kent, Ohio, on the record's release date. The tour kicks off in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and includes stops in Burlington, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Bloomington, Madison, and Minneapolis. The two will play previously scheduled shows in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and DC next month.

AfroCubism is currently on tour in Europe, where this group of Malian and Cuban greats played a sold-out show at the Barbican in London on Sunday. The Arts Desk called it "one of the most transporting and life-affirming gigs of the year." The Evening Standard gave it a perfect five stars, saying: "The musical links are real and there’s a clear physical delight in throwing round the exuberant solos." Band member Toumani Diabaté gave the BBC World Service a brief tutorial on the kora and how this traditional Malian instrument worked so well with the sounds of Cuba on AfroCubism.

The nominations are in for the fRoots Critics Poll of Best New Album of 2010, and among them are the Carolina Chocolate Drops and several artists on the World Circuit/Nonesuch roster: AfroCubism, Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, and Cheikh Lô. This year marks the 25th annual fRoots Critics Poll. The winners will be announced in BBC Radio 3's World on 3 on December 3.

Emmylou Harris, The Low Anthem close out their tour together ... John Adams conducts Dutch premiere of City Noir ... Laurie Anderson and her dog perform at Art for Animals benefit ... Carolina Chocolate Drops continue French tour ... Shawn Colvin tours Midwest with Loudon Wainwright ... Ben Folds takes Lonely Avenue South ... Bill Frisell does Disfarmer ... Kronos Quartet plays Portugal ... Brad Mehldau continues Highway Rider Europe tour ... Punch Brothers play the South ... Oumou Sangare is in the Bronx ... Allen Toussaint, Nicholas Payton celebrate New Orleans ... Sara Watkins concludes European tour ... and more ...

The Barbican in London has revealed the complete program for Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich, a two-day celebration of his music and his influence on generations of musicians, May 7 and 8. Highlights include performances of all the new music he has written since the Barbican celebrated his 70th birthday in October 2006, including Double Sextet, 2x5, and WTC 9/11, performed by Kronos Quartet. Carnegie Hall presents those works in Music of Steve Reich at the end of April.

Ben Folds continues his Lonely Avenue tour stops in Montclair, New Jersey, Charlotte, and Atlanta. The New York Times describes him as "a witty, engaging songwriter possessing both chops and humor, a rare combination." The Londonist, looking forward to February's UK tour, says his "live performances are full of energy, bite, irony and good humour." Folds spoke with Nashville Public Television about his upcoming benefit concert with the Nashville Symphony in a video you can watch here, along with a preview of the upcoming season of NBC's The Sing-Off.

Dawn Upshaw joined violinist Geoff Nutall for the European premiere of Kurtág's Kafka Fragments at the Barbican in London last week, directed by Peter Sellars. The Guardian gave it four stars, citing "Upshaw's emotional honesty and gripping presentation of music that tests a soprano's technique." She joins another Sellars collaborator, John Adams, in performances of Adams's El Niño with the San Francisco Symphony, led by the composer, in early December.

Punch Brothers continue the Southern swing of their US tour, following last night's show in Knoxville and a live Mountain Stage set that led the Charleston Gazette to say the band "can flat-out play music." Chris Thile spoke with Birmingham magazine's Carla Jean Whitley, who tells him: "Perhaps I'm reading too much in, but it just sounds like you're five guys having a great time creating music with friends." The band has just added new dates to their tour schedule in January.

Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra closed out their tour of North America with performances at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York and Boston's Jordan Hall, featuring works from their latest Nonesuch release, De Profundis. The New York Times describes one such work as an "alluring, reflective piece." The Boston Globe says Kremer's performance "carries an electric charge precisely because the ear is almost always being led somewhere unexpected," and the Kremerata Baltica "play with great sensitivity."

Philip Selway will be the guest on NPR's World Cafe today. Tune in on NPR stations across the United States or listen in online at xpn.org to hear Selway talk with the show's host, David Dye, and perform songs from his solo debut album, Familial. Selway recently selected the winner in the search for collaborators to remix the album track "Beyond Reason," which you can download at Spinner.

On February 22, The Low Anthem will release Smart Flesh, the self-produced follow-up to their critically lauded 2009 release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, on Nonesuch. The majority of Smart Flesh's 11 tracks were recorded in a cavernous, vacant pasta sauce factory in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The eclectic array of instruments used on the album include jaw harp, musical saw, stylophone, three antique pump organs (restored by the band), and oversized drum kits.