"No other group in jazz, past or present, sounds quite like Mary Halvorson’s Amaryllis," WRTI's The Late Set says of its guest and her band. "A sextet that places her guitar within a shifting matrix—alongside trumpet, trombone, vibraphone, bass, and drums—it’s a chamber ensemble with a dynamic core, forever in a state of flux." Halvorson spoke with Josh Jackson, The Late Set co-host with Nate Chinen, about the band—whose new album, About Ghosts, is on the show's short list for Album of the Year—ahead of a recent concert at Solar Myth in Philadelphia. You can hear it here.

Tortoise's Jeff Parker and John McEntire were on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday to talk with host Ayesha Rascoe about the band's new album, Touch, and their upcoming concert with Chicago Philharmonic at The Auditorium on November 11. You can hear their conversation here.

“I fell upon these people bit by bit, and also the songs which I could bring back, this arsenal of incredible pieces from all sorts of corners of time," Robert Plant says on BBC Radio 4's Front Row in a conversation with presenter Samira Ahmed about his new album, Saving Grace, out next week, and the band of distinguished players with whom he made it. You can hear the episode here.

Molly Tuttle celebrates the release of her new album, So Long Little Miss Sunshine, on NPR's World Cafe, talking with host Raina Douris and performing four songs from the album. "Molly Tuttle is one of the best young guitarists in the business," NPR's All Songs Considered host Stephen Thompson says on today's "Best New Albums" episode. "This thing is magical. It is so good ... a really magnificent album." His guest co-host, WBUR's Amelia Mason, says: "She does integrate her guitar playing incredibly effectively ... The songs are just really good ... it works really well." You can hear both episodes here.

"Composer Steve Reich is one of the most influential musicians of modern times," BBC Radio 4's This Cultural Life host John Wilson says of his guest. "In the 1960s he helped rewrite the rules of composition, using analogue tape machines to experiment with rhythm, repetition and syncopation. As the godfather of musical minimalism, his influence on Philip Glass, David Bowie, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, and many other composers, has been enormous." You can hear their conversation about Reich's life, work, and the influence of Stravinsky, Bach, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Pérotin, and more here.

"Her approach is entirely unique, inventive, expressive, and quietly radical," David Mayfield guest host of NPR's Mountain Stage, says of Yasmin Williams, who performs songs from her Nonesuch debut album, Acadia, on the show. "She literally redefines what the guitar can be and how it can sound ... From the moment she picks up a guitar, you know you're witnessing something truly original."

"Her new album is a true love letter to her North Carolina roots," Jenn White, host of NPR's 1A, says of her guest Rhiannon Giddens and her new album, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, with Justin Robinson, who also joins the conversation and performs with Giddens on the show. Giddens was also on BBC Radio 4's Front Row to discuss the album. You can hear both here.

John Adams's new opera Antony and Cleopatra, which opens at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC tonight, was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. NPR's Jeff Lunden spoke with stars Julia Bullock and Gerald Finley, director Elkhanah Pulitzer, and the composer, who concludes: "Part of composing is creating an alchemy between the colors and the gestures of the orchestra and the beauty of the voice. And, of course, in this case, I've got Shakespeare's language, which is incomparably wonderful." You can hear it here.

"When you've had a six decade long career at the forefront of contemporary music, and your record label issues a 27-disc box set called Collected Works, you tend to want to look back a bit," says New Sounds host John Schaefer. "Steve Reich is the subject of such a box set." Reich is also Schaefer's guest for the full hour of the show, in which they do look back to hear and discuss some of those earlier works as well as two new works in the set, Jacob’s Ladder (2023) and Traveler’s Prayer (2020). You can hear the episode via WNYC here.

"Every once in a while, you come across someone so skilled with an instrument that it makes you reconsider what you thought was possible," NPR's World Cafe contributing host Kallao says his guest. "That’s how it feels to watch Yasmin Williams play the acoustic guitar." Williams spoke with Kallao and performed songs from her new album, Acadia, and more. "It’s one of the most inventive and exciting performances we’ve had on the show." You can watch it here.

Laurie Anderson was on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends to talk with host Clive Anderson about her new piece ARK: United States V, the premiere performances of which continue at Factory International's Aviva Studios in Manchester through Sunday, and more. You can hear the conversation here. The Quietus highlights ten key tracks from her catalog, from "O Superman"—"her most definitive track"—to "Flying at Night" from her new album, Amelia, "a poignant, moving reflection on what our heroes reveal about ourselves."

Rhiannon Giddens spoke with NPR's Morning Edition about the area in and around the town of Swannanoa, in her home state of North Carolina, as it recovers from the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene. She also talks about an earlier tragedy in the region—a 19th-century train tunnel collapse—that inspired the old work song "Swannanoa Tunnel," which she recorded with Silkroad Ensemble. "Why were we given the ability to sing and touch people?" Giddens asks. "And this is why: when you think about the destruction, there are no words, so a song can tap into something that then releases energy—now I can cry. That's what it's for, helping us all with the emotions that are bigger than we know what to do with."