Apple Music Classical—a new stand-alone app for Apple Music subscribers—launched this week, to easily find classical recordings all in one place with fully optimized search. That includes classic Nonesuch recordings and recent releases by John Adams, Timo Andres, Louis Andriessen, Julia Bullock, Jeremy Denk, Gidon Kremer, Kronos Quartet, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Nico Muhly, Richard Goode, Henryk Górecki, Jonny Greenwood, Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Dawn Upshaw, and more. Apple Music Classical is available on the App Store and is included at no extra cost with nearly all Apple Music subscriptions. 

“One of the most majestic and stunning singers on the current scene,” TSF Jazz host Jean-Charles Doukhan says of Cécile McLorin Salvant, his guest on Deli Express, in translation from the French. “Each of her albums is a masterstroke. And each of her concerts is a powerful and unforgettable experience.” Of her new album, Mélusine, he exclaims: “As always, brilliant!” You can watch Salvant’s performance of the album track “Le temps est assassin” in the TSF Jazz studio with Glenn Zaleski on piano and Keita Ogawa on percussion here.

Cécile McLorin Salvant's album Mélusine is a mix of originals and interpretations of songs dating as far back as the 12th century, mostly sung in French along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl. They tell the folk tale of Mélusine, a woman who turns into a half-snake each Saturday after a childhood curse by her mother. She has shared a new live performance video of the album track "Doudou," which you can watch here. "Anyone who thinks they already know the full extent of Cécile McLorin Salvant's artistry should listen to Mélusine without further delay," exclaims Jazzwise. "It's a remarkable recording in several respects. Beautifully recorded, Salvant continues to confound and delight at every turn."

Steve Reich was on CBC's Q to talk with host Tom Power about his early musical influences, like Igor Stravinsky, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis; his own seminal works Clapping Music, Come Out, Drumming, Different Trains, and Music for 18 Musicians; and a new generation of composers exciting him now, including Caroline Shaw and Nico Muhly. You can hear their conversation here.

“It was thrilling to talk to her,” Marc Maron says of Laurie Anderson, his guest on the latest episode of WTF with Marc Maron. “Laurie Anderson had a profound impact on my life. Just hearing her in my headset while I talked to her was kind of mind-blowing.” They talk, among other things, about life in 1970s New York with fellow artists like Philip Glass, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Spalding Gray; playing straight man to Andy Kaufman; and a new book she helped edit of Lou Reed’s writing on tai chi. You can hear their conversation here.

Natalie Merchant has released the video for “Come On, Aphrodite,” the new single, featuring singer Abena Koomson-Davis of Resistance Revival Chorus, from Merchant's upcoming album, Keep Your Courage, due April 14. You can watch the video, directed by Matthew Shattuck in Brooklyn, here. Merchant will tour the US this spring and autumn and has just announced a November tour of Europe, with shows in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin, Bath, Amsterdam, and Brussels.

k.d. lang, who was recently announced a recipient of the 2023 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada’s highest honor in the performing arts, was on CBC’s Q to talk with host Tom Power about the honor, her “groundbreaking” career, and more. You can hear Power’s conversation with lang, whom he calls “one of the biggest music stars ever from Canada,” here. The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards will be presented on May 27.

“Among the top [jazz] practitioners in the world, and certainly among one of the most thoughtful and inquisitive spirits in jazz, is pianist Brad Mehldau,” says Sebastian Scotney on The Economist’s The Intelligence podcast. “He probably has the mantle of the world’s preeminent jazz pianist.” You can hear their conversation here.

Rachael & Vilray have released a live performance video of "Even in the Evenin'," a song from their new album, I Love a Love Song!. You can watch it here.

Brad Mehldau has published his debut book, Formation: Building a Personal Canon, Part I, out now on Equinox Publishing. "It's an autobiographical bildungsroman of sorts, tracing my musical and personal formation up until the age of twenty-six," he says. "Along the way, it gives a picture of what the New York City jazz scene felt like in the late 1980s and early ’90s." Joshua Redman says: "His music is nothing short of magic—an impossible wonder of ecstatic and empathic creative communion, to which I myself have borne witness, time and time again. Now, in this probing and provocative memoir, Brad finally shares with us some of the secrets (or at least the stories) behind the casting of his innumerable spells. A worthy read for anyone intrigued by the genesis of genius.”

Hurray for the Riff Raff—aka Alynda Segarra—is featured singing harmonies on fellow New Orleans–based musician Esther Rose’s just-released song, “Safe to Run,” the title track to Rose’s forthcoming album, due April 21 on New West Records. You can watch the video for the track, directed by Rett Rogers, here.

David Byrne performed “This Is a Life,” the Oscar-nominated song from the Oscar-winning film Everything Everywhere All at Once, at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles last night with Stephanie Hsu, who herself was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the film, and the band Son Lux, which was up for an Oscar for Original Score. You can watch their performance of “This Is a Life,” for which Byrne, Mitski, and Son Lux’s Ryan Lott were nominated for the Oscar for Original Song, here.