Rhiannon Giddens was on CBS Sunday Morning to discuss Omar, the opera she wrote with Michael Abels, based on the life and autobiography of enslaved Muslim scholar Omar Ibn Said, who was forcefully brought to Charleston, SC from Africa in 1807. “We need to know their stories,” says Giddens, “and then we know more about who we are now.” You can watch their conversation here.

After spending nearly 30 years showcasing their music across the globe, Wilco will make its Iceland debut April 6–8, 2023, at Reykjavík’s Eldborg Hall at Harpa. Tickets go on sale August 16. A new, previously unreleased track from the upcoming Yankee Hotel Foxtrot super deluxe and deluxe editions—a live, in-the-studio version of “Ashes of American Flags” from a 2001 session on WXRT Radio’s Sound Opinions—is out today.

Longtime Warner Bros. Records Chairman Mo Ostin died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 95 last week. In his tribute to Ostin, Nonesuch Records President David Bither writes: "without him, Nonesuch would not be the same company that it is today."

Punch Brothers, who conclude their American Acoustic tour of the United States with Watchhouse and Sarah Jarosz on the East Coast next week, have announced a tour with Béla Fleck in December. The tour kicks off with three stops in Texas—Dallas, Austin, and Houston—followed by shows in Birmingham, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Ann Arbor, and Buffalo.

The Blue Hour, a song cycle born of a collaboration among five composers—Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider—will be released October 14 on New Amsterdam / Nonesuch Records. The piece was commissioned and performed by the chamber orchestra A Far Cry, who are joined by singer Shara Nova. Set to excerpts from Carolyn Forché’s epic poem On Earth, the music follows one woman’s journey through the liminal space between life and death via thousands of hallucinatory and non-linear images. Exploring memories of childhood, war, love, and loss, The Blue Hour amplifies the beauty, pain, and fragility of human life from a collective female perspective.

The first recording of Steve Reich’s Reich/Richter, performed by Ensemble intercontemporain and conducted by George Jackson, released in June on CD/digital, is now available on vinyl. The composition was originally written to be performed with German visual artist Gerhard Richter and Corinna Belz’s film Moving Picture (946-3). "Reminiscent of his earliest work," says the Financial Times, "it is very beautiful." You can take a look inside the vinyl in an unboxing video here.

Natalie Merchant was a guest on the Sheroes podcast hosted by Carmel Holt. They spoke at the Newport Folk Festival in July, where Merchant took part in a number of special collaborative performances. They discuss her career, some of what she’s been focused on for the past few years, and what’s ahead. They also spoke for Mixtape Memoir on Sonos, looking back at Merchant’s life through songs. You can hear both here.

Hurray for the Riff Raff kicks off a tour of the Pacific Northwest with two sets at Pickathon in Oregon this weekend. There's more great live music ahead around the world from John Adams, Lake Street Dive, Punch Brothers, and Molly Tuttle.

Rhiannon Giddens was on PBS NewsHour to talk with Jeffrey Brown about her new role as artistic director of Silkroad, with whom she just concluded her first tour. "I love getting thrown something that I have never done before, but that I think I have the goods to do, but I have to figure out how to do it,” Giddens tells Brown. “And so I always say yes first and figure it out later.” You can watch Giddens’s conversation with Brown, who calls her "a boundless bridger of musical worlds and styles," here.

The Newport Jazz Festival features performances from Cécile McLorin Salvant, Sam Gendel, and Makaya McCraven, who also performs at SummerStage in NYC's Central Park. There's more great live music ahead around the world from The Black Keys, Rhiannon Giddens, Punch Brothers, Steve Reich, Tyondai Braxton, Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion, and Molly Tuttle.

The original video for k.d. lang’s Top 40 hit song “Constant Craving,” from the double-Platinum-selling 1992 album Ingénue, has been re-mastered from the original film materials in 4K HD by Craigman Digital featuring audio from the 2017 Ingénue: 25th Anniversary Edition remaster. The song earned lang the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance in 1993. The video was directed by Mark Romanek. "I'm so happy the video has been updated and hope fans can enjoy it more now that it's high res!" You can watch it here.

Punch Brothers, Watchhouse, and Sarah Jarosz join forces for the second American Acoustic US tour starting tonight, with dates in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, New Haven, and more. Chris Thile says: “It took five years, but I’m elated to announce the second traveling edition of American Acoustic for this summer. Joining my fellow Punch Brothers and me in front of a pair of large condenser microphones will be our dear friends, Watchhouse and Sarah Jarosz, for a collaborative evening of music that traverses our respective catalogues and celebrates being together.” They've released a preview of what's to come with a cover of Sufjan Stevens' "Mystery of Love" performed live from Telluride; you can watch it here.