Lianne La Havas is the guest on the latest episode of NPR's World Cafe. She talks with host Raina Douris about her new, self-titled album and gives an intimate acoustic performance of four album tracks: "Can't Fight," "Weird Fishes," "Paper Thin," and "Bittersweet." Douris calls Lianne La Havas "an album more confident and more personal than anything she has ever done before." You can hear the conversation and performances here.

The Staves' Camilla and Jessica Staveley-Taylor in London spoke with The Current's Jill Riley in St. Paul, Minnesota, about the upcoming Staves album, Good Woman, due February 5. You can watch the conversation, which touches on life, loss, renewal, and, well, Dawson's Creek, plus a live performance of the new album's title track here.

"I can't overstate the tremendous beauty and mastery glimmering here," says Simon Rentner, host of WGBO's The Checkout, about Brad Mehldau's new album, Suite: April 2020. Mehldau discusses the album, which he wrote while sheltering at home with his family and recorded during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with WBGO's Nate Chinen on the latest episode of the show, which you can hear here.

Joachim Cooder was on NPR's World Cafe to talk with contributor Jessie Scott about his new album, Over That Road I'm Bound. Cooder, on electric mbira and vocals, is joined by his father Ry Cooder on guitar for "beautiful, haunting" live duo performances of several songs from the new album. You can hear the session here.

Joachim Cooder is the guest on the latest episode of WNYC / New Sounds' Soundcheck, hosted by John Schaefer, to discuss his recently released Nonesuch debut album, Over That Road I'm Bound. Cooder, on electric mbira and vocals, is joined by his father Ry on guitar for special live, duo performances of songs from the new album. Over That Road I'm Bound "is full of inventive arrangements of songs by Uncle Dave Macon, an early 20th century songster," says Schaefer. "One of the most pleasant surprises of a year that has been full of unpleasant surprises." You can hear the conversation and performances here.

Rhiannon Giddens has composed a new song, "Best Day / New Day," for NPR's Morning Edition Song Project, in which musicians create an original song about the COVID-19 era. Giddens and Francesco Turrisi talk with Morning Edition host David Greene about the song, life during the pandemic, and its context in world history. You can hear the conversation and the song here.

Sam Amidon is the guest on the latest episode of WNYC / New Sounds' Soundcheck, hosted by John Schaefer, to discuss his new, self-titled album, out tomorrow. Amidon is joined by multi-instrumentalist Chris Vatalaro, who is also on the album, to perform three songs from his new, self-titled album: "Cuckoo," "Hallelujah," and "Pretty Polly." You can hear the session here.

Composer Clint Mansell spoke with NPR's Tim Greiving on Morning Edition about creating the score for director Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film, Requiem for a Dream. "Requiem for a Dream celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall" says Greiving, "and in that time there's at least one part of its legacy that's never faded: the music. The movie's haunted original score spawned a kind of breakout hit that would ripple through media for years to come." You can listen to the Morning Edition piece here. The 20th anniversary vinyl edition of the soundtrack, performed by Kronos Quartet, is due December 4 and is available to pre-order now.

Sarah Kirkland Snider "asserts her own musical personality as a composer who knows instinctively how to write for the human voice," says Tom Huizenga in his review of her Mass for the Endangered on NPR's All Things Considered, which you can hear here. "Both the choir [Gallicantus] and the 12-member orchestra, conducted by Gabriel Crouch, respond to Snider's music with richly tailored performances ... Through her smart and resplendent exploration of age-old musical formulas, Snider's eco-inspired Mass for the Endangered is a blast from the past that resonates profoundly in the present."

Devendra Banhart is on the latest episode of NPR's Alt.Latino. He spoke with host Felix Contreras and producer Isabella Gomez Sarmiento about his new EP, Vast Ovoid, exploring the difference between disappointment and disillusion; examining pre-COVID art under current conditions; and embracing the strong bond he feels with the Grateful Dead, whose song "Franklin's Tower" he covered for Amazon Music. You can hear their conversation here.

Lianne La Havas spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro on All Things Considered for its Play It Forward series, in which artists share musicians who inspire them. The previous week, spoken word poet Kae Tempest had selected La Havas, saying: "There is something that happens when I hear her sing, which is so uplifting ... this wash of pure melodic brilliance." Shapiro, in describing the song "Bittersweet," from La Havas's new album, says: "I feel like this summer, everyone is kind of trying to do their best to just keep it together. And when the chorus of this track hits, it's like you're not even pretending anymore. Like, the mask drops, and it just feels very real."

Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, and Vince Gill—whose rich history and friendship runs for almost 50 years—reunited to perform a concert for Grand Ole Opry's Saturday night broadcast live this past weekend. You can watch the hour-long set again here. "There’s nothing better than singing with old and dear friends," says Harris, "especially if those friends happen to be Rodney and Vince."