Well before we were all social distancing, Vagabon stopped by KEXP in Seattle on December 12, 2019, to perform a few songs live in the studio with her band. She spoke with host Troy Nelson and performed three songs from her self-titled Nonesuch debut album—"Secret Medicine," "Water Me Down," and "In A Bind"—as well as "Cold Apartment," from her previous album, Infinite Worlds. While her spring tour has been postponed, you can watch the KEXP live session here.

"What happens when a jazz virtuoso sets his sights on a cinematic sound?" ask All Things Considered host Audie Cornish. "Pat Metheny has done just that on his new album, evoking the plush and soaring landscapes of film scores. Reviewer Tom Moon says it's among the most ambitious projects of Metheny's long career." "He's pushing forward, seeking breathtaking and profoundly new vistas," says Moon. "It's got the epic journeys of the Pat Metheny Group and the fiery improvisational exchanges of his more recent jazz sessions. It's also a stretch beyond those horizons into textures and atmospheres not often heard in jazz." Hear the All Things Considered piece here.

Rachael & Vilray are guests on the latest episode of NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The duo spoke with Fresh Air producer Sam Briger and performed several songs from their self-titled debut album. "I'm glad Sam introduced me to their music," host Terry Gross says in her introduction, "and I think you'll enjoy it too." You can hear the session here.

Jeff Parker's new album, Suite for Max Brown, is "a demonstration of how jazz mixes it up with other musics these days," says NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross music critic Kevin Whitehead. "Parker invokes his days as a crate-diving club DJ, a job where you can juxtapose beats from all over as long as they serve or creatively stem the flow." You can hear the review here.
 

Chris Thile and Gaby Moreno helped celebrate Dolly Parton's recent birthday with a performance of her song "Blue Smoke" for a special "Encores and Extras Compilation" episode of Live From Here last weekend. You can watch their performance of the song, as well as Thile's solo performance of "Little Sparrow," here. (Thile performed on Parton's 2001 album, Little Sparrow.) Chris Thile has several US solo concert dates in the weeks ahead, and Live From Here returns live from The Town Hall in New York City on February 8. 

Vagabon has announced a headlining spring tour of North America. The tour begins at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on March 31 and continues through May 17, culminating with a concert at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana, California. Vagabon stopped by WFUV in NYC to perform two songs from her self-titled new album, "Every Woman" and "In a Bind," for FUV Live, which you can watch here.

Yola recently stopped by Minnesota Public Radio's The Current to perform three songs from her multiple Grammy-nominated album, Walk Through Fire—the title track, "Ride Out in the Country," and "Shady Grove"—and talk with host Bill DeVille about her life and music. You can watch it here. And tune in to see her on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight.

"Ladies and gentlemen: Turn. It. Up," exclaims Meghna Chakrabarti, host of NPR's On Point, ahead of her interview with Yola. "You're gonna wanna hear this music and this woman. And you're going to wish you've had a twelve-month streak like Yola has had ... We needed music like this right now." The two discuss Yola's multiple Grammy-nominated debut album, Walk Through Fire, and that year-long streak following its release—or, as Yola puts it, "a weekly update of life-changing news." You can hear their conversation here.

Mandy Patinkin was on NPR's All Things Considered last week to talk with host Ari Shapiro about his new album, Children and Art. "Art, never more than these moments we're living these days, is the avenue toward expression of existence," he says. "The whole system is falling apart, and you need to turn to the fire department to put out the flames. And in this case, I appeal to artists of every nature to guide us and lead us back to humanity and caring for our fellow human beings and doing what is morally and ethically appropriate." Patinkin is on tour now.

Devendra Banhart stopped by WFUV to talk with FUV Live host Alisa Ali and perform three songs from his new album, Ma—"Taking a Page," "Carolina," and "October 12"—which you can watch here. Banhart also spoke with Pitchfork for its The Song I Wish I Wrote series; his choice: Joan Armatrading's "Willow." "I think this is the perfect song," he says in the video you can watch here. His North American tour concludes with concerts in Montreal, Boston, Brooklyn, DC, and Philadelphia this week. He heads to Europe in January.

Rachael & Vilray recently performed at The Club Car at The McKittrick Hotel in New York City, where public radio’s WFUV was on hand to record the set for an FUV Live show. “Like Rachael and Vilray themselves, the songs have a timeless quality and an unpredictable sense of humor,” writes Rita Houston. You can watch two of their performances here, and listen to the entire session at wfuv.org

Mandy Patinkin was on CBC's Q while on tour in Toronto. He spoke with host Tom Power about life and music, including his new album, Children and Art. "I love these songs. They are songs that talk to me right now, at this moment," Patinkin says. "Whether it's funny, sad, meaningful, connective, they're all like little remembrances or prayers to me, or recollections ... But I guess more than anything, they're about finding the light for me." You can watch the conversation here.