Carolina Chocolate Drops keep it close to home in the Carolinas bringing their "palpable energy" to the Boone Hall BBQ & Bluegrass Fest ... Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed play Paris ... Bill Frisell closes out two-week residency at NYC's Village Vanguard with Paul Motian, Joe Lovano ... The Low Anthem's European tour gets under way in Ireland and UK ... Brad Mehldau tours South America solo ... Sara Watkins is out West ...

Shawn Colvin joins Nanci Griffith at a concert to benefit The Morton Arboretum outside of Chicago ... Carolina Chocolate Drops begin their tour in Baltimore and DC ...  Bill Frisell Trio's in Michigan for the Hoxeyville Music Fest ... Allen Toussaint plays free Lincoln Center Out of Doors set in NYC ... Sara Watkins solos at Wisconsin's Lake Superior Big Top ... Wilco concludes European festival tour ... and more ...

Kronos Quartet closes season close to home at Art in the Redwoods and Rancho Nicasio ... John Adams conducts A Flowering Tree at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart ... Shawn Colvin headlines Oakland's Art & Soul Fest ... Bill Frisell goes solo at Oslo ... Richard Goode performs Beethoven at Marlboro Music closer ... Low Anthem plays VA and PA ... Brad Mehldau comes home to NY's Smoke ... Joshua Redman Trio plays Scandinavian fests ... Wilco does too ... and more ...

Dan Auerbach, The Low Anthem head to Chicago for Lollapalooza, club shows ... David Byrne's Songs of David Byrne & Brian Eno tour closes out at England's Big Chill Fest ... Toumani Diabaté heads south and north with Béla Fleck, from Virginia to Alberta ... Joshua Redman's Double Trio celebrates Newport Jazz's 55th ... Allen Toussaint plays "supple, easy-rolling piano" at San Jose Jazz Fest ... Sara Watkins joins Robert Earl Keen in Ohio ... and more ...

The Black Keys play as the sun sets on All Points West ... Laurie Anderson talks gardens in the Hamptons ... David Byrne brings his Songs to Benelux; preps Playing the Building in London ... Richard Goode continues on at "close to perfection" Marlboro Music ... The Low Anthem celebrates Newport Folk Festival's 50th ... Youssou documentary opens in six more US cities ... Wilco's on NPR's World Cafe; Nels Cline joins M. Ward, Mike Watt at NYC's SummerStage ... and more ...

Rokia Traoré, Oumou Sangare, Youssou N'Dour take the WOMAD UK stage ... Youssou plays the Nice Jazz Fest too, as the film about his album Egypt opens in Montreal ... Amadou & Mariam close Coldplay tour, feature on CNN ... David Byrne's Italian tour continues at Locus Fest ... Bill Frisell concludes European tour with McCoy Tyner Quintet ... The Low Anthem plays Philly's XPoNential Music Fest ... Punch Brothers play up in Maine ... Joshua Redman Trio makes music at Mendocino Fest ... Steve Reich participates in Bang on a Can Music Fest at MASS MoCA... Dawn Upshaw performs Golijov and more at Aspen Music Fest ... and much more ...

Richard Goode enjoys the fruits of his artistic direction at Marlboro Music ... Amadou & Mariam play SoCal with Coldplay ... Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed perform at the Palace for Manchester Fest ... The Black Keys conquer Colorado ... David Byrne takes a Roman (work) holiday ... Shawn Colvin goes solo, joins Jackson Browne ... Christina Courtin's close to home in NYC ... Bill Frisell joins the McCoy Tyner Quintet in Italy ... The Low Anthem opts for Ottawa Blues Fest ... Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman's trios cross paths at Nice Jazz Fest ... Oumou Sangare closes US tour with Béla Fleck ... Chris Thile premieres mandolin concerto at Interlochen ... Allen Toussaint sees Spain, London ... Rokia Traoré tours UK's Larmer Tree Fest ... Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish light up Elora Fest ... Wilco plays Portland, Maine, upstate New York ... and more ... 

Wilco is back on the road in New England ... Amadou & Mariam begin their US tour opening for Coldplay ... Joshua Redman plays the Netherlands at the North Sea Jazz Festival, as do fellow labelmates Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Allen Toussaint, Nicholas Payton, and Fred Hersch ... In Canada, the Punch Brothers perform in Canada at the Ottowa Blues Fest, and Oumou Sangare visits the Winnipeg Folk Fesitval in Manitoba.

Shawn Colvin, Emmylou Harris conclude the Three Girls and Their Buddy tour ("a delight," Seattle Times) ... Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe play London's Drury Lane ... Bill Frisell's Quartet is in Iowa City for free Jazz Fest ... Gidon Kremer closes Sigulda Festival with Gala Concert ... Kronos Quartet play pieces from Floodplain at the Traumzeit (Dreamtime) Festival ... The Low Anthem opens for M. Ward in Utrecht, plays in London's Hyde Park ... Brad Mehldau solos in Italy ... Joshua Redman has a hatrick at the Montreal Jazz Fest ... Oumou Sangare joins Béla Fleck at Caramoor and SummerStage ... Allen Toussaint plays Joe's Pub ... Wilco's at Red Rocks with Okkervil River ... and more ...

Allen Toussaint headlines the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, plays SFJAZZ ... David Byrne is out West, at Red Rocks and Red Butte ... Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe bring tour to Belgium ... Toumani Diabaté, Béla Fleck tune in to Telluride Bluegrass Fest ... Bill Frisell performs a solo set in Washington state ... Emmylou Harris goes solo at Telluride ... Pat Metheny revisits Gary Burton Quartet on the road ... Punch Brothers play bluegrass and Radiohead at Telluride ... Sara Watkins does Prairie Home Companion at Ravinia, joins WPA at Telluride ... Wilco does Vegas and Hard Rock Hotel ... and more ...

Youssou N'Dour performances, film at BAM ... Amadou & Mariam make music in Montreal, Boston ... Laurie Anderson comes to Colorado Imagination Fair ... The Black Keys play Pittsburgh, Philly, San Diego festivals ... David Byrne's in Philly too and Vienna, VA ... Bill Frisell is guest of honor at Telluride Festival ... Richard Goode performs Chopin, Bach in Bristol ... Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin open Luminato Festival ... k.d. lang joins Garrison Keillor on Prairie Home Companion ... Low Anthem plays two states in one day ... Kronos gives Australian premieres of Floodplain pieces ... Sara Watkins takes the Mountain Stage with Steve Earle ... and more ...

Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin join Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller for Three Girls and Their Buddy ... Bill Frisell unveils new piece at Bang on a Can Marathon, NYC ... Youssou N'Dour closes the Africa Vive festival in the Canary Islands ... Punch Brothers follows Spoleto appearance with Virginia gig ... Joshua Redman Trio plays Tacoma ... Rokia Traoré plays a sold-out show at the Barbican ... Allen Toussaint concludes a week in Japan ... Wilco plays Portugal and Spain ... and more ...