Today is release day for Christina Courtin's self-titled Nonesuch debut. To mark the occasion, Christina will appear on WNYC's Soundcheck to talk about the new record and perform a few songs from it. The Washington Post's Express Night Out says: "Courtin's voice is effortless adaptable, weaving in and out of the instrumentation, constantly playing with texture and volume, never particularly anxious about how it sounds, but never perfectly content, either ... It may only be her debut album, but considering her confirmed songwriting and singing abilities, Courtin already sounds like a veteran."

Sara Watkins will be a special guest on this week's episode of A Prairie Home Companion, airing a live national broadcast performance from the Ravinia Festival Pavillion in Ravinia, Illinois, on hundreds of public radio stations across the US beginning Saturday at 4:45 PM CT. Joining Sara and the show's host, Garrison Keillor, as special guest is Oklahoma blues man Elvin Bishop.

The Low Anthem's Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, is set for release tomorrow. The album's first track, "Charlie Darwin," opens this week's episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. "If you listen to just one song today," insists the show's host, Bob Boilen, "make it this opening track to the new CD by The Low Anthem. It all starts off with a sound that at times feels Gospel and then at the very same time feels agnostic. Those two ideas seem at odds with one another, but then the title of the record's called Oh My God, Charlie Darwin."

k.d. lang will be among the special guests on this week's episode of A Prairie Home Companion, airing a live broadcast performance, recorded tonight from LA's Greek Theatre, on hundreds of public radio stations across the US this weekend. Joining k.d. and the show's host, Garrison Keillor, as special guests are Sheryl Crow and Martin Sheen. The episode will also feature the Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and sound effects man Fred Newman; singer Heather Masse; the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band; and The News from Lake Wobegon. 

Christina Courtin, whose self-titled Nonesuch debut is due out on June 23, is featured on this week's episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. The show's host, Bob Boilen, tracks Christina's career, from her earliest days playing violin at the age of three through her time at Juilliard and to the forthcoming release, from which he plays the song "Bundah." "She always knew she could sing," Boilen says, "and that became her desire." You can also hear "Bundah" and watch a video for the song on the new multimedia page nonesuch.com/christinacourtin, which also features the album tracks "Foreign Country" and "February" plus a photo slideshow of Christina.

Fernando Otero will perform songs from his 2008 Nonesuch release, Pagina de Buenos Aires, live on Soundcheck, a program of WNYC, New York Public Radio, 93.9 FM, today at 2 PM ET. He'll talk with the show's host, John Schaefer, and will perform at the piano along with Nick Danielson on violin and Hector del Curto on bandoneon, both of whom performed on the album.

Sara Watkins is taking a couple days off from her extensive US tour behind her recently released, self-titled Nonesuch debut. But while you wait to see her back in action in her live show, you can hear her perform songs from the new album on NPR's World Café this afternoon. Listen live online at xpn.org at 2 PM EST or check back in with npr.org later in the day to listen to today's episode streaming.

Allen Toussaint's residency at the Village Vanguard with The Bright Mississippi band continues through Sunday. The New York Times, in its review of Tuesday's opener, writes: "New Orleans was in every phrase, with hints of swing, of humor, of sly sensuality ... It wasn’t a re-creation of old New Orleans music but a reverie on a New Orleans heritage: a lifetime of memories refined by a genteel sensibility that finds the elegance in the blues." Last night's set is now streaming at npr.org. Bob Boilen, host of NPR's All Songs Considered, previewed the show, saying, "If you listen to one jazz concert this year, tonight is your night." His NPR colleagues called it "an intimate, graceful and eminently enjoyable jazz show." New Orleans' Times-Picayune exclaims: "The Bright Mississippi is a highlight of an already remarkable career."

Allen Toussaint and his Bright Mississippi Band, featuring most of the players from his recently released Nonesuch album, begin a week's residency at New York's Village Vanguard tonight. NPR member station WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM will broadcast Wednesday night's early set live from the Vanguard on air and online at npr.org, where there will be a live video feed as well. "On The Bright Mississippi," says the New York Times, "his sharp and spirited new album, Mr. Toussaint—an eminent New Orleans pianist and songwriter, but not, strictly speaking, a jazz man—takes a crack at some old-time jazz standards, with refreshing results."

Fresh off yesterday's release on Nonesuch of Richard Goode's recording of the complete Beethoven piano concertos and his performance last night at Carnegie Hall, Goode joins WNYC's Leonard Lopate for a performance on today's show. The Huffington Post exclaims that the album's release signals "a great day for classical music," asserting: "If you're in the mood to hear five of the greater piano concertos ever written ... then Richard Goode's your man. Oh, there are other pianists who have climbed this mountain, but of the living practitioners, Goode stands alone. He's given the bulk of his creative life to Beethoven. And it shows."

Allen Toussaint helped close the 40th anniversary New Orleans JazzFest "on an upbeat note" yesterday, says USA Today. NPR's Fresh Air says that "Toussaint sounds as eternal as New Orleans" on his recent Nonesuch release, The Bright Mississippi. "Whether he's reworking Ellington, Bechet or Reinhardt, Toussaint infuses the numbers with his own elegant funk, particularly evident in his piano work, never so varied and flowing." The Observer says the pianist and his band "dip into the New Orleans fountain of jazz youth" on the album, and "Toussaint's own piano rolls along as ornately and authentically as ever.

In a week that brought big news from Wilco about their forthcoming studio album's Nonesuch release, there's now more good news from the band: They're offering fans a new recording of Woody Guthrie's Depression Era song "Jolly Banker," on their site, with 100% of the suggested donation going to support the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives. Jeff Tweedy tells American Public Media's Marketplace how Guthrie's words, even seven decades later, still resonate, and how the band got to see an all-too-rare side of America while on the tour documented in their new concert film, Ashes of American Flags.