Randy Newman, whose new live performance CD+DVD Live in London was released this week, is set to make his Austin City Limits television debut when the show presents an episode dedicated exclusively to his work this Saturday, November 12, on PBS stations across the US. The set list features 17 songs from throughout Newman's career, including "Short People," "Political Science," and "You Can Leave Your Hat On." Read the complete set list and watch Newman's ACL performance of "You've Got a Friend in Me" here.

Joe Henry, the singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer, talks with NPR's Fresh Air about his new album and about the 2009 album he produced for Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi, on which, for the first time, Toussaint explores the work of his New Orleans forebears, like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Jelly Roll Morton. Henry also produced the Carolina Chocolate Drops' 2010 Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig. He will perform with Brad Mehldau at London's Wigmore Hall next month.

Gidon Kremer recently performed in Lincoln Center's White Light Festival in a program titled Homage to J.S. Bach. "Kremer's performance of the Bach Chaconne was the wonder of the night," writes The New Yorker's Alex Ross. "Herbert von Karajan once declared that Kremer was the greatest violinist alive; this still seems to be the case. His legendary reading of the Chaconne ... has grown ever deeper with age." Kremer joins the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra for a brief European tour starting next weekend.

The acclaimed 1999 album Jim Hall & Pat Metheny, reissued for the first time on Nonesuch Records, is out now. Pat Metheny's duo collaboration with Jim Hall, whom he has called the "father of modern guitar playing," features 17 tracks: original tunes from each guitarist, several improvisations captured in the studio, plus six tunes recorded live in concert, including Gershwin's "Summertime." "The excellence of the playing is the heart of the matter," says the Philadelphia Inquirer of the album. "It's a privilege to listen in." The Los Angeles Times calls it "extraordinary."

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. He was accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler, and the program was televised by the BBC. The concert is out now on CD+DVD as Randy Newman: Live in London. (The UK release follows next week.) Time Out London calls it "essential viewing for fans." Newman makes his Austin City Limits television debut on PBS this Saturday and will tour Europe in February and March.

Polish composer Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, who passed away a year ago this week, will be celebrated in a free memorial concert at New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge tonight. The all-Górecki program, presented by LPR and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York, features Górecki's Kleines Requiem für eine Polka, performed by Ensemble Signal, led by Brad Lubman, and Quasi una Fantasia: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 64, performed by the JACK Quartet.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang kicked off their three-week tour of Australia outside Perth on Saturday. "From the first long, soaring notes of the night she was in spectacular, pitch-perfect voice," says the West Australian. The Australian says: "To watch k.d. lang is to observe someone doing what they were surely born to do. Rarely do you see someone so at ease on stage, standing behind nothing but talent, wits and her sheer joy of performing." lang and the band give the first of six performances in Sydney on Wednesday. Fans in the area: read more for a chance to ask lang a question on TV next week.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are featured on the new documentary Give Me the Banjo, which premiered on PBS on Friday night and is now available online. Narrated by Steve Martin, Give Me the Banjo is a musical odyssey through 300 years of American history and culture by way of the banjo. Watch Carolina Chocolate Drops member Rhiannon Giddens perform a song from the film here. On a very different note, the band has launched a cookie recipe contest with proceeds from sales of the winning cookies donated to the Food Bank of North Carolina.

The Black Keys, whose new album, El Camino, is due out December 6, are featured on the cover of the latest issue of American Songwriter. The band talks about the heady year-and-a-half that has followed the release of their album Brothers and about finding time between tour dates to write songs for the new album with producer Danger Mouse and put the record together in Auerbach's Nashville studio. "The hard work paid off," says American Songwriter. "El Camino cherry-picks the best things about previous Black Keys records ... and filters them through a smudged-up rock and roll lens."

Kronos Quartet will take part in a weeklong residency at Syracuse University that gets under way today. It will include workshops, a screening of Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream with a post-screening Q&A, and a concert featuring Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 and the world premiere of Douglas Quin's Polar Suite. The piece incorporates soundscape recordings from the polar regions of the earth and outer space, processed samples, plus interactive electronics involving the K-Bow Bluetooth Sensor Bow designed by Keith McMillen.

New York's Lincoln Center presented two groundbreaking works by Philip Glass last week, when the New York Philharmonic and the Philip Glass Ensemble performed Koyaanisqatsi and the Metropolitan Opera gave the first of seven performances of the opera Satyagraha. The New York Times calls them "two of Mr. Glass’s most compelling scores." The New York Post calls Satyagraha "a masterpiece of musical and visual art." The AP calls it "spectacular," its music "frequently ravishing." Tuesday's performance includes a pre-concert talk by composer Nico Muhly and will be broadcast live on SIRIUS XM and the Met's website.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang kick off their Australian tour ... Laurie Anderson brings Delusion to Mexico ... Carolina Chocolate Drops celebrate vaudeville in Chicago ... Ry Cooder talks LA stories in LA ... Ben Folds joins St. Louis Symphony ... Philip Glass's Satyagraha opens at the Met ... Kronos Quartet is in Vancouver ... Jessica Lea Mayfield headlines in Mississippi ... Audra McDonald takes her show to Florida ... Pat Metheny Trio plays Poland ... Randy Newman performs a benefit show at Wesleyan ... Punch Brothers launch tour with Paul Simon ... Stephen Sondheim receives Chicago Tribune Literary Award ... Sara Watkins tours Midwest with Blind Boys of Alabama ... and more ...