The Pat Metheny Unity Group, featuring Chris Potter on sax and bass clarinet, Antonio Sanchez on drums, Ben Williams on bass, and multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi, release their first record, Kin (←→), on February 4. You can watch a preview video about Kin (←→), set to various songs from the album, here, then pre-order the album in the Nonesuch Store for an exclusive print autographed by Metheny. The Pat Metheny Unity Group will tour North America beginning February 3, then tour Europe from April through June; tickets are on sale now.

Rokia Traoré, as part of her US tour last fall to mark the release of her new album, Beautiful Africa, stopped by the studios of KCRW in Santa Monica to perform on Morning Becomes Eclectic and talk with the show's guest host, Chris Douridas, about the new album and tour. KCRW has posted video of the complete interview and performance, featuring songs from the new album, which you can watch here. NPR calls her "one of Mali's most revered voices."

Rokia Traoré, whose new album, Beautiful Africa, landed on a number of Best of the Year lists, recently spoke with PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown about the album. "Rokia Traoré and her music are a mix of African and Western influences and languages," says Brown. "Traoré's new album addresses the problems of Mali and the continent, but also, as its title, Beautiful Africa, suggests, much more." Watch the complete PBS NewsHour piece here.

Inside Llewyn Davis, the new film from Joel and Ethan Coen, was the subject of a segment on CBS Sunday Morning, in which music producer T Bone Burnett joins correspondent Anthony Mason to tour Greenwich Village and discuss its folk music scene depicted in the film. Watch the piece here. The BBC names Inside Llewyn Davis the Best Films of 2013, "enhanced by a golden soundtrack of folk song ballads, many sung with quiet feeling by Oscar Isaac, so magnetic in the title role." The Los Angeles Times says: "It's the music that moves Inside Llewyn Davis. Like most Coen brothers films, the songs play an integral part of the story. But T Bone Burnett's work levitates Inside Llewyn Davis."

Iron and Wine was the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC last night, joined by Calexico and special guests Glenn Hansard and Kathleen Edwards, to perform that Christmas classic by The Pogues, "Fairytale of New York." Watch the performance here. All of the artists above, as well as Beth Orton, Nick Lowe, and Amos Lee, performed the previous night at the Holiday Cheer for FUV concert to benefit NYC public radio station 90.7 FM WFUV. Tune in to WFUV for highlights from the concert on Monday, December 23, at noon and on Christmas Day at 7:30 PM.

The new Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis has been named one of the Top 10 Films of the Year by the American Film Institute and is nominated for the LA Film Critics Award for Best Music Score. Watch a new featurette on the casting of the film, including behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the Coen brothers and cast members Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, and Garrett Hedlund here. Oscar Isaac, who plays the title role, was a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night; watch the interview and a special performance here.

Audra McDonald wowed an audience of more than 18 million viewers on the live, televised broadcast of The Sound of Music on NBC last Thursday, portraying the Mother Abbess to great critical acclaim. McDonald "has been pretty much unanimously appointed the show-stealer of the night," says TIME. The Christian Science Monitor says "McDonald was a majestic Mother Abbess." The Los Angeles Times says: "The golden pipes of McDonald, playing the Rev. Mother, opened the broadcast, but her memorable scene came later, singing 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain,' one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most enduring numbers from their 1959 Broadway musical." Watch the performance here. And hear her take on "Edelweiss" on her new album, Go Back Home.

Jeremy Denk spoke with PBS NewsHour's Art Beat correspondent Jeffrey Brown about his new recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations and its companion DVD with video "liner notes" of Denk demonstrating passages on the piano as he explains certain details of the iconic piece. In their conversation, Denk describes the Variations as "one of the most beautiful music lessons in history." Watch the NewsHour segment here. Jeremy Denk joins the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for two concerts this weekend.

Inside Llewyn Davis, the new film from Joel and Ethan Coen, has received the award for Best Feature at the Gotham Awards. A new featurette called "Finding Llewyn Davis," looks at how Oscar Isaac earned the title role. You can watch it here, along with a film clip of Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, and Stark Sands performing "Five Hundred Miles" here. "Folk music is essential to the film—and not only as its soundtrack," writes the Wall Street Journal's Jim Fusilli. "It’s clear from Inside Llewyn Davis that the Coen brothers listen to music with a writer’s ear for story." The Village Voice gives the film five stars, saying it "might be the best Coen brothers movie yet," and calls Isaac's voice "luminous as the moon."

Inside Llewyn Davis, the new film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, opens in select theaters this Friday, December 6. You can watch a new featurette on the music and making of the film here, as well as an excerpt from the film with the song "Please Mr. Kennedy." New York's David Edelstein calls the film "transcendentally soundtracked." The New Yorker's Anthony Lane writes: "If you love the Coens, or follow folk music, or hold fast to this period of history and that patch of New York, then the film can hardly help striking a chord." The New York Times's Janet Maslin exclaims: "Inside Llewyn Davis has the best T Bone Burnett soundtrack since the Coens’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

"Taurobolium," the closing track to Devendra's Banhart's recently released Nonesuch Records debut album, Mala, has inspired animator and director Galen Pehrson to create a new, animated short film titled Mondo Taurobolium. The film's lead characters, Mondo and Gale, are portrayed by Banhart and Rose McGowan, respectively. Mondo Taurobolium premiered on Nowness, which also features an interview with the director about the process for creating the animated piece. Watch it here.

During a recent visit to the Library of Congress, Randy Newman was given the opportunity to play George Gershwin’s piano. "Outdoors but Not the Red River Valley" was written on commission from pianist Gloria Cheng and is one in a five-part homage to Newman’s uncles, film composers Alfred, Emil & Lionel Newman. "My uncle Alfred wrote the music for a number of John Ford’s films," says Newman. "In every one of them, the great director wanted to use 'Red River Valley.' Al liked the tune, but not in every picture. I wrote this piece for my uncle, who was a really great composer." Watch his performance here.