Brad Mehldau is set to perform an intimate solo set in Washington, DC, this weekend. The Washington City Paper says: "His performances are wondrous, and this one promises to be no different." The Washington Post, reviewing the new Brad Mehldau Trio box set The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996-2001, cites "an intuitive and highly interactive level of performance" in the set. JazzTimes says the retrospective offers "a fresh vantage point on a body of music by enabling the listener to experience it whole. The best art requires time to release all of its revelations." Jambands calls it "a solid reminder why Brad Mehldau has earned his place amongst the true masters of the jazz piano."

Carolina Chocolate Drops are back in the US after a week in the UK, which saw four-star reviews from the Guardian and Times of London, to launch a months-long US tour in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, tonight. The tour will take the band up and down the East Coast and to the Midwest then out West before they head back east to play the New Orleans Jazz Fest in April. The band's new album, Leaving Eden, is due out February 28. Check out a preview video here, featuring the album's opening track, "Riro's House."

Punch Brothers have just returned home to the United States after a week in Europe that included five-star reviews for their shows in London and Glasgow. As Punch Brothers prepare to launch its US tour in Baton Rouge with Loudon Wainwright III this Friday, they have just added another string of East Coast dates in April, including stops in New York City, Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, Nashville, and more. For a taste of their forthcoming album, Who's Feeling Young Now?, check out the new preview video with the track "Clara" here.

Carolina Chocolate Drops were featured on CNN Newsroom, discussing their music and its roots with anchor Brooke Baldwin. Watch it here. The band performed at Celtic Connections in Glasgow with support from Punch Brothers. The bands "played with the kind of hard-won technique that leaves you high on life," raves The Scotsman in a five-star review. The Herald Scotland calls the Chocolate Drops "riotously good fun" and "a real treat"; they "set the house alight." The band launches its US tour on Thursday. Chocolate Drops and Kronos Quartet can be heard on Chimes of Freedom, a new album of songs of Bob Dylan benefiting Amnesty International.

Dougou Badia, the new digital EP from Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, is out today. The four-song EP includes "Dougou Badia," the first song off Amadou & Mariam's forthcoming album, Folila, which is due out on April 2. Santigold, who co-wrote the song with Mariam, joins her on vocals. Also included are an alternate mix of the song by Danger Mouse cohort Kennie Takahashi; the album track “Oh Amadou” (with Bertrand Cantat); and a live version of “Wily Kataso” from Eclipse, a show staged in complete darkness at the 2011 Manchester International Festival.

Kronos Quartet began its week-long Barbican residency in London over the weekend with master classes and workshops. The residency, titled Awakenings, continues with concerts at Hackney Empire tonight, the Barbican on Thursday, and Wilton's Music Hall on Friday. Kronos Quartet appeared on BBC Radio 3's In Tune and performed two pieces from the concerts. "One of the most celebrated and famous ensembles on this globe," says In Tune's Sean Rafferty of his guests. "Nearly 40 years of innovation, excellence and excitement—how does one begin to describe the Kronos Quartet?"

In the spring of 2004, Caetano Veloso curated a week of special concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall as one of its prestigious Perspectives artists. He invited his longtime friend and collaborator David Byrne to join him for an evening. The concert was recorded for broadcast on NPR and now will be released by Nonesuch as Caetano Veloso and David Byrne: Live at Carnegie Hall on March 13. The singer/guitarists each performed an acoustic set of their own songs and also performed together. Caetano Veloso and David Byrne: Live at Carnegie Hall is available now for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store.

The Black Keys launch their 2012 El Camino tour in Europe, with shows in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the UK. The band begins its North American arena tour on March 2 featuring sold-out shows at Chicago’s United Center, DC’s Verizon Center, and two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden followed by a second batch of dates in April; special guests Arctic Monkeys open on the tour. The documentary This is a Concert by The Black Keys, shot at the band's album-release concert in NYC, is airing now on Palladia.

Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau were in Australia last week for a brief duo tour, including two concerts in Sydney for the 2012 Sydney Festival and one in Melbourne. Mehldau's "capacity for setting up a steady rhythm at fast pace was mesmerising, helping to drive Redman's playing on tenor and soprano to delirious heights," says The Australian of Friday's Sydney show. "It works at the highest level and is deeply human: full of delight, surprise, even ecstasy." The Brisbane Times gives Saturday's Melbourne show four stars: "It was playing of the highest order."

Carolina Chocolate Drops, Punch Brothers play a double bill at Celtic Connections in Glasgow then return to London ... Robert Wilson, Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach tour launches in Ann Arbor ... Emmylou Harris celebrates her Grand Ole Opry 20th with Shawn Colvin ... Kronos Quartet launches Barbican residency in London ... The Low Anthem tours British Columbia with City and Colour ... Pat Metheny kicks off Blue Note Tokyo residency ... Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau play Australia ... and more ...

Nonesuch Records releases an album of works by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and composer/Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood on March 13, 2012. The album is now available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store. The music on the album—Penderecki's Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima and Polymorphia (for 48 strings) and Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver and 48 Responses to Polymorphia—was presented in two concerts in Wrocław last fall and will be performed at London's Barbican Hall on March 22, featuring the artists on the recording.

Kronos Quartet is at the Barbican in London this weekend to launch a week-long residency entitled Awakenings. Kronos performs three concerts in three different venues, gives the world premiere of a major new work by Valentin Silvestrov, collaborates with two London choirs, and engages with young musicians and the public in a series of creative learning events. The Guardian calls it "voraciously ambitious in its musical range" and says: "Kronos have achieved more in getting the string quartet as a medium, and contemporary music as a creative force, into the global popular consciousness than pretty well any other ensemble."