Over the last few months, four artists with whom the company had important associations have passed away. Here we remember Hamza El Din, Ali Farka Toure, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and Edward Aldwell.

Listen to Magic Potion, the new album from The Black Keys and watch the band perform live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. The album track "Your Touch" is featured on NPR as Song of the Day. Also, watch some Black Keys TV here in the Nonesuch Journal as Dan goes guitar shopping and the band preps to go on tour.

By Robert Hurwitz
Nonesuch Records President Bob Hurwitz shares his experiences visiting New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward to present Habitat for Humanity with a $1 million check on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The money was raised from sales of Our New Orleans, the Nonesuch album celebrating music of the Crescent City, to aid in the creation of the neighborhood's new Musicians' Village.

By Robert Hurwitz
Nonesuch President Robert Hurwitz shares some thoughts on working with Peter Clancy, the label's Senior Vice President for Marketing, for the past 22 years.

By David Byrne
David Byrne reports from the Ruhr Triennale, A Century of Song, in Duisburg, Germany.

Listen to songs from a few of the new releases from the last couple of weeks.

Green Gartside of Scritti Politti was on WNYC's Soundcheck today. Listen to the live performance and interview with John Schaefer at wnyc.org. Scritti Politti's upcoming album, White Bread Black Beer, was nominated for a Mercury prize in the UK. Other nominees include Thom Yorke and Arctic Monkeys.

By Glenn Kotche
Glenn Kotche offers a first-person account of his 12 hours at the 2006 Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City.

Two new records featuring Brad Mehldau's compositions are out today: House on Hill, the final recording from his long-time trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossi and Love Sublime, which comprises songs Mehldau wrote specifically for Renee Fleming. The New York Times calls House on Hill "a marvel of collective self-assurance, worth hearing not only for Mr. Rossy's weightless time feel but also for Mr. Mehldau's thoughtful compositions," and says Love Sublime is "thoughtful too, sometimes achingly so."

By David Byrne
"There are those who mourn the vanishing of the nice big cardboard packages that vinyl came in," writes David Byrne. "The usual assumption is that much of this imagery, like music videos, is a reflection of, and extension of, the music creator’s sensibility. As if the packaging and the videos were usually under the direct control of the author. This is absurd."

By Robert Hurwitz
Henryk Górecki's Third Symphony was recorded in one day, 15 years ago last month. Here is Nonesuch President Bob Hurwitz's journal entry from that day.

Adam Guettel's six-time Tony Award-winning show The Light in the Piazza will be broadcast live on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center tomorrow night, Thursday June 15. Nonesuch released the show's cast album in 2005.