While touring in support of his 2008 album Harps and Angels, Randy Newman performed a special concert at London’s intimate LSO St. Luke’s, an 18th-century Anglican church that has been restored by the London Symphony Orchestra for use in its community and music education programs. He was accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler, and the program was televised by the BBC. Nonesuch Records releases this concert as Randy Newman: Live in London on November 8, 2011; the CD/DVD package is available now for preorder in the Nonesuch Store. Time Out London calls it "essential viewing for fans."

The 22-song London set features songs from throughout Newman’s four-decade long career, including some of his best-known songs like “Short People,” “Louisiana 1927,” and “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” as well as newer songs such as “A Few Words in Defense of My Country” and “Laugh and Be Happy." An interview from the BBC broadcast also is included on the DVD.

Newman performs a similarly diverse mix of songs on his Austin City Limits television debut, airing November 12 on PBS (go to austincitylimits.org for local air times).
 
Harps and Angels received tremendous critical acclaim: Rolling Stone, Mojo, Q, and Uncut named it to their Best Albums of 2008 lists. USA Today said, “Few troubadours can so deftly blend aching poignancy and biting wit; like the greatest American songwriters, from traditional pop on, Newman has an enduring knack for stories and observations that pique the heart and mind,” and the Guardian praised its “sumptuous melodies, devastating pathos and thorny, irony-laden character songs,” calling it the “work of a true master of popular song.”

The second volume in The Randy Newman Songbook series, in which the songwriter takes a fresh look at his work in new solo recordings, was released earlier this year. London’s Daily Telegraph called the album “An invigorating celebration of the joys of great songwriting and proof of the power of one man and his piano,” and Time Out New York called its songs “three-minute masterpieces from throughout a half-century career.”

After starting his songwriting career as a teenager, Newman launched into recording as a singer and pianist in 1968 with his self-title album Randy Newman. His reputation as a songwriter grew quickly, as Judy Collins, Dusty Springfield, Peggy Lee, Harry Nilsson, and Joe Cocker, among others, recorded his work. Throughout the 1970s he released several other acclaimed albums such as 12 Songs, Sail Away, and Good Old Boys. In addition to his solo recordings and regular international touring, Newman began composing and scoring for films in the 1980s. The list of movies he has worked on since then includes The Natural, Awakenings, Ragtime, all three Toy Story pictures, Seabiscuit, James and the Giant Peach, and A Bug’s Life.

Newman has earned six Grammys, for: Toy Story 3 (2011), “Our Town” (2006), “If I Didn’t Have You” (2002), “When She Loved Me” (2000), A Bug’s Life (1999), and The Natural (1984). He has won three Emmys and in 2010 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has been nominated 20 times for Academy Awards and has won twice: for “If I Didn’t Have You” (Monsters Inc.) and for “We Belong Together” (Toy Story 3); he performed the latter song at the 2011 ceremony.

To peruse Randy Newman's Nonesuch Records catalog, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album starting release date.