Sara Watkins, whose self-titled solo debut was released on Nonesuch earlier this week, and the album's producer, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, are featured in a multimedia look at the album in the Wall Street Journal online. No Depression describes the album as "preternatural" for "its gossamer vocals and heavenly instrumentation," lauding Sara's "seamless interaction with a stellar cast of accompanists" and exclaiming: "From the haunting opening strains of [the album opener], you know you're in the presence of an artist working on a deeper level than your average new grasser."

Bill Frisell has teamed up with bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Rudy Royston for a series of Trio performances taking them outside DC tonight and to Chicago tomorrow. "Few jazz musicians have acquired the stature and respect of guitarist Bill Frisell," says DCist, crediting "his intensely personal sound" and "the range of timbres and colors in [his] palette." The Chicago Tribune says that, for The Best of Bill Frisell, Vol. 1: Folk Songs, the most recent Nonesuch release from this "guitarist extraordinaire ... some of his finest recordings have been assembled." The album "plays like the missing link between avant-folk guitarist John Fahey and jazz legend Miles Davis." Time Out Chicago calls him "the quintessential proponent of true roots music—embodying the ever-diverging genealogy of American music from blues and country through the outer reaches of improv heroics."

After The Low Anthem's performance with Ray LaMontagne at The Egg in Albany, New York, Monday night, the Albany Times Union described the band's music as "spare" and "magical," exuding charm in "a hushed, hypnotic way." The Low Anthem helped celebrate the 25th anniversary of West Virginia public broadcasting's Mountain Stage in a special concert last December, now streaming online. "All of them play various instruments," says the show's host, Larry Groce. "They play very subtle music, very quiet, very thoughtful, very interesting tunes."

The Black Keys' singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach stopped by the studios of New York public radio station WFUV for an episode of Words & Music from Studio A to perform songs from his recent solo release, Keep It Hid, with his uncle James Quine, and discuss the project with the show's host, Russ Borris, who calls the album "a fine piece of work ... marked by warm production and some of the best vocals Auerbach has recorded to date."

Amadou & Mariam's latest album, Welcome to Mali, was recently described by Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis as "a constant source of sunshine" in a difficult time for much of the world. In a series of video interviews for Nonesuch.com, with concert footage and archival photos featured throughout, the couple shares some of the inspiration behind their new album, with input from album contributor Damon Albarn, and their lifelong commitment to spreading joy through music. To watch all of these videos, along with a live performance of the album track "Sebeke," visit nonesuch.com/media.

Ashes of American Flags, the new film by Christoph Green and Fugazi’s Brendan Canty documenting the live Wilco concert experience, is due out on DVD in the Nonesuch Store on Saturday, April 18, and will be screened at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado, tonight. "The members of Wilco are road dogs," says the Colorado Daily, an idea brought to life in the film, which sees them playing "playing blazing, sweaty sets at historic concert halls ... The movie’s concert scenes show the members of Wilco celebrating every stage moment, while the audiences are mesmerized with every moment of the performances."

David Byrne will open the 2009 season of Celebrate Brooklyn!, one of New York City's longest running, free, outdoor concert series, with a free concert ($3 suggested donation) in Brooklyn's Prospect Park Bandshell the night of Monday, June 8, its organizers have announced. The series, which has offered free concerts in the Park since 1979, launches its first-ever Opening Night Green Gala, preceding the concert, to support the festival's programs and its efforts to present more environmentally responsible events, including the first-ever large-scale bike parking area at a cultural event in New York.

Sara Watkins's self-titled solo debut is out today on Nonesuch. To mark the occasion, Sara is in New York City, where she'll perform on Soundcheck this afternoon at 2 PM ET, with her brother and Nickel Creek band mate, Sean Watkins, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, both of whom are among the stellar list of guest artists on the new album. Sara begins an extensive US tour later this week and returns to New York on Monday to perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

John Adams's 2008 String Quartet, only his second piece for the medium after 1994's John's Book of Alleged Dances, "is a stunner," says the San Jose Mercury News, following the West Coast premiere by the St. Lawrence String Quartet at Stanford last Sunday. "[T]he piece emerged as one of his most brilliant and inventive masterworks," asserts the Mercury News, and "boasts all the attributes audiences have come to associate with Adams' best music ... [T]his is Adams at his most gripping."

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali gets "an enthusiastic double-'Buy It' rating" from the hosts of Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions, Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times) and Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune). "During a rather dark, dismal, and dire week, this album was a constant source of sunshine," says DeRogatis. "This is joyous, celebratory music, absolutely, positively uplifting in its mix of Africa and the West. I love these guys to pieces." Kot concurs: "This is a great record ... I don't think I've heard a better album, beginning to end, than Welcome to Mali, in 2009." On NPR's All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen says, "They have a deep history of making music together, but nothing quite like their new record  ... Welcome to Mali will surely be one of the best world music records of 2009."

Sara Watkins's self-titled Nonesuch debut is out this week, and, says the BBC, this founding member of Nickel Creek "steps out with a confident stride with her debut solo release." The review calls it "an assured debut ... Watkins' time in the spotlight is a triumph with her agile playing and the kind of voice that gives your goosebumps the shivers." Scotland on Sunday says "it's her affectingly authentic voice that makes her such a superb example of the new Americana." The Washington Post's Express Night Out says Sara's "performances are now in a league with the stylistically similar Allison Krauss." The Kansas City Star says it's an album "for anyone who likes the sound of a good singer and a good band hammering out good music."

Audra McDonald will be among Broadway's finest at New York's Roseland Ballroom tonight for the Roundabout Theatre Company's Spring Gala, Take Me Back to Manhattan, a one-night-only celebration of the New York's big-band era. The performance, which benefits the Roundabout's Musical Theatre Fund, features music by Rodgers, Porter, Arlen, Berlin, Ellington, and Gershwin. Tonight's event will be hosted by Nathan Lane and is also scheduled to include performances by Michael Cerveris, Kelli O'Hara, Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick, Mario Cantone, Jane Krakowski, Cynthia Nixon, Denis O'Hare, Martha Plimpton.