Tigran Hamasyan kicks off a North American tour with music from his new album of American standards, StandArt, at The Opera House in Brooklyn on Wednesday, followed by shows in Bentonville, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Ottawa, and Toronto. "Out of all the so-called jazz standard repertoire, there are a number of compositions that really have a special place in my heart,” he says in a new video about the making of the album. "It was a true blessing to record this project with Matt Brewer with Justin Brown as the trio and have guest appearances of Ambrose Akinmusire, Mark Turner, and Joshua Redman."

Makaya McCraven has released a Hi-Res live EP, International Anthem @ Public Records (Volume 3), available exclusively on Qobuz. The set was recorded live at Brooklyn's Public Records on September 19, 2022, for which McCraven assembled a unique ensemble with a string quartet to perform special arrangements of songs from his new album, In These Times. "It was really fun doing pared down versions of these songs in such an intimate space," McCraven says, "especially with so many close friends and family in the house." You can watch a live video of "Dream Another" from the set here.

Hurray for the Riff Raff performs “Rosemary Tears,” from their album LIFE ON EARTH, in a new video filmed live in concert at Point Éphémère in Paris earlier this fall. It comes just as Hurray for the Riff Raff reunites with Bright Eyes on six shows of their North American fall tour in Illinois, Michigan, Toronto, Montreal, Providence, and at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. Hurray for the Riff Raff also joins NPR Music in a celebration of its 15th anniversary at Washington, DC’s 9:30 Club.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi performed live from the US Ambassador’s Residence in Dublin last month as part of the Other Voices special Dignity: Towards a More Equitable Future. For the event, a celebration of shared musical culture between the US and Ireland, Giddens and Turrisi performed "Calling Me Home" and "I Shall Not Be Moved," from their 2021 album, They’re Calling Me Home; "Build a House"; and Paul Simon’s "American Tune." You can watch the full show as well as the standalone performances of "American Tune" and "I Shall Not Be Moved" here.

Guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson has released a video of her performing her song "Night Shift" live with a newly formed sextet of master improvisers—Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, Nick Dunston on bass, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Jacob Garchik on trombone, and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet—at Roulette in Brooklyn on September 8, 2021. The performance took place just three days before the musicians recorded the piece for Amaryllis, one of Halvorson’s two Nonesuch debut albums, along with Belladonna, released this past May. You can watch it here.

Tom Skinner has released “The Journey,” the latest single from his forthcoming new album, Voices of Bishara, out November 4, as well as a live performance video of the track, featuring himself on drums and percussion, Tom Herbert on acoustic bass, Kareem Dayes on cello, Chelsea Carmichael and Robert Stillman on tenor saxophone, and Paul Camo on samples. You can hear the new song and watch the video, filmed last month at St. Luke’s Church in West Holloway, London, here.

The Blue Hour, a song cycle collaboration among composers Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider, is out now on New Amsterdam / Nonesuch Records. The piece was commissioned and performed by the chamber orchestra A Far Cry, who are joined by singer Shara Nova. Set to excerpts from Carolyn Forché’s epic poem On Earth, the music follows one woman’s journey through the liminal space between life and death via thousands of hallucinatory and non-linear images. You can take a quick look inside the album here.

Singer, songwriter, and guitar player Molly Tuttle has unveiled a new live performance video for "Dooley's Farm," a song she co-wrote with Ketch Secor for Crooked Tree, the debut album with her band, Golden Highway. The video was filmed during their sold-out release show at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn this past spring, celebrating the acclaimed new album. Tuttle and the band were joined by Jerry Douglas, who co-produced the album with her. You can watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens’s book debut, Build a House, is out today on Candlewick Press. The picture book was inspired by, and features the lyrics of, a song she wrote and recorded with Yo-Yo Ma to commemorate Juneteenth in 2020. A newly recorded version of “Build a House” with Ma and Francesco Turrisi is also out today on Nonesuch; you can watch the video here. Giddens will read the book and perform at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum October 13 and The Grammy Museum in LA October 22. Her Carnegie Hall Perspectives concerts begin October 15; her opera Omar with Michael Abels debuts at LA Opera October 22.

Cécile McLorin Salvant’s concert at Salle Poirel in Nancy, France, for the Nancy Jazz Pulsations festival was broadcast live via ARTE. She was joined by guitarist Marvin Sewell, bassist Paul Sikivie, and percussionist Keita Ogawa—all of whom perform on her Nonesuch debut album, Ghost Song—and pianist Glenn Zaleski. You can watch the set here. Salvant was on BBC Radio 4's Kate Bush: The Power of Stranger Things hosted by Ann Powers. She talks about "Wuthering Heights" and why she chose to record it on Ghost Song. 

Congratulations to Molly Tuttle, who has won the International Bluegrass Music Association Award for Female Vocalist of the Year! Tuttle has just shared a new live performance video for the title track to Crooked Tree, the debut album with her band, Golden Highway. The video was filmed during their sold-out release show at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn this past spring, celebrating the acclaimed new album. Tuttle and the band were joined by Jerry Douglas, who co-produced the album with her. You can watch it here.

Michelle Branch has released a karaoke version of "Not My Lover," a song from her new album, The Trouble with Fever, so fans can sing along and recreate the official video, in which Branch and friends visit a local karaoke bar in Nashville. You can find the karaoke version and the song's lyrics here to join in, as well as the original video for inspiration.