The Brad Mehldau Trio returns with Ode, out this week in the UK and this coming Tuesday in North America. Ode earns five-stars from the Daily Telegraph, which says it "shows his inventive powers are as fresh as ever," and the Financial Times, which calls it "benchmark piano-trio jazz." The BBC raves: "All three players are articulating a ceaseless stream of fresh ideas throughout this electrically energised session." MusicOMH calls it "an often scintillating and always joyful listen from beginning to end." Early US reviews agree. The New York Times finds "resonant lyricism, floating locomotion, a harmonic approach that brings depth to simple structures and sleekness to the more complex ones." The Chicago Tribune hears Mehldau "in prime form as composer, improviser and bandleader."

The Low Anthem joined The Chieftains in a performance of "School Days Over" on The Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday night, in celebration of the legendary Irish band's 50th anniversary. "The perfect way to celebrate their anniversary," says VH1, "the performance was filled with soul and reverence, and if you close your eyes, will take you back to a rolling, misty, fantastical landscape filled with magic." Watch the performance here. The groups perform in concert on NPR Music on Friday and at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, St. Patrick's Day. The Low Anthem plays its own set at SXSW tonight.

Punch Brothers make their SXSW debut with eight free shows this week, including tonight's Warner Sound showcase, which will stream live at youtube.com/thewarnersound. The SXSW shows follow two nights at the Bluebird Theater in Denver and precede a number of solo shows from Chris Thile. Punch Brothers recently joined Dierks Bentley to perform Bob Dylan’s "Señor," off Amnesty International's new benefit album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, on The Ellen Show, which aired yesterday. Watch it here.

In 2004, Caetano Veloso curated a week of special concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall and invited his longtime friend and collaborator David Byrne to join him for the show heard on the new album Caetano Veloso and David Byrne: Live at Carnegie Hall, out now. The album earns four stars from Glide, the Guardian, and the Observer, which calls it "an entrancing showcase of their respective talents ... and even on disc a sense of joy and spontaneity is palpable." The Herald Scotland says the album "leaves the listener grinning from ear to ear." The New York Daily News includes it among the best new albums. The Seattle Times calls the concert "an absolute jewel."

The new album featuring works by Krzysztof Penderecki paired with those they inspired by Jonny Greenwood is out now. MusicOMH says: "The four pieces here make an album that carries a powerful impact, as well as recognising the obvious talents of both composers in writing for the string orchestra." The music will be performed at London's Barbican Hall on March 22 by the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, the artists on the recording, with Penderecki conducting his pieces and Marek Moś conducting Greenwood's, as on the album.

The Low Anthem is set to join The Chieftains this week as the legendary Irish band marks its 50th anniversary, performing on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS; in concert from WGBH radio, streaming this Friday on NPR Music; and, on Saturday, St. Patrick's Day, live at Carnegie Hall. The Low Anthem will play its own set for SXSW at Austin's ACL Live at the Moody Theater on Thursday. Next week, the band can be heard on The Hunger Games soundtrack.

Today marks the start of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference in Austin, Texas, when thousands of bands and music lovers from all over the world descend on the live-music capital for several days of non-stop music making. Nonesuch artists will be well represented among them, with several performances throughout the week from Punch Brothers, Dr. John, and The Low Anthem. The Warner Sound showcase, featuring Punch Brothers and Dr. John, will stream live via YouTube Wednesday night.

The Black Keys' North American arena tour brought the band to NYC last night for a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, the band's first-ever headlining show at the venue. They head next to Canada for shows in Montreal tonight and Toronto tomorrow. "The Black Keys are rock stars, and their traditional rock sound electrified Madison Square Garden on Monday night," exclaims the AP, which calls the show "exhilarating, bluesy and loud." Rolling Stone says: "[T]he songs from El Camino cast a spell over the packed arena as Auerbach wound their hooks into broad, euphoric payoffs."

Benjamín Escoriza, the Spanish singer and former vocalist of Radio Tarifa, died on March 9, 2012, after a long illness. Benjamín Escoriza was born in Colomera, Granada, in 1953 and moved to Madrid in 1989, where he met Vicente Molino and Fain Sanchez Dueñas. They would form the band Radio Tarifa, which release four albums on World Circuit/Nonesuch Records: Rumba Argelina, Temporal, Cruzando el Rio, and Fiebre.

The Black Keys have brought their North American arena tour to New York City for a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden tonight with special guests Arctic Monkeys, following the weekend's stellar shows in DC and Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer raves: "They are a big band in these small times, and Saturday night they delivered a smoking-gun performance—which is to say they killed—at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center." The Washington Post exclaims: "Friday night the band thrilled the crowd that packed Verizon Center with nearly two hours of a brand of guitar rock whose demise, judging from this show, has been greatly exaggerated."

Carolina Chocolate Drops continued their US tour over weekend with two sold-out shows and could be heard far and wide all over the public-radio airwaves, on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday and PRI's Here and Now discussing their new album, Leaving Eden, and on PRI's Studio 360. "The Carolina Chocolate Drops put new life into old-timey music with their 2010 release Genuine Negro Jig, put a contemporary spin on southern string tunes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries," says Weekend Edition's Scott Simon. "And that collection went on to win a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Now, the Chocolate Drops have returned with their banjos, bare bones and fiddles."

The new album pairing works by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki with the works they inspired by Jonny Greenwood is due out next week. Greenwood is the subject of an extensive feature article in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine that traces the roots of his compositions to his appreciation for Penderecki's music, through his own film scores and to the ever-evolving sounds of Radiohead. "Greenwood cites an early-’90s concert of Penderecki’s music as a conversion experience," says the Times; "he’s obsessed with Penderecki the way a lot of people are obsessed with Radiohead."