Natalie Merchant heads to London this week for the first of several performances in the UK and Continental Europe in the coming weeks. To mark these events and Natalie's forthcoming Nonesuch debut, due out in early 2010, Nonesuch.com is taking a look back at the singer-songwriter's career in a special video piece, available now at nonesuch.com/media.

The Low Anthem is closing out its month-long US tour with Blind Pilot in Boston on Thursday. There's much more ahead, including shows in Europe and back in the States for several dates with Josh Ritter and a WFUV benefit with Rosanne Cash. Now, the band announces a two-week, ten-city tour with The Avett Brothers, across the Midwest, in February and March 2010.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops were in California last week for a number of shows, including a small session at Santa Monica's Village Studios, where a select few got a taste of what's to come on the band's forthcoming Nonesuch debut, out early next year. "Boing Boing will be all over it like gravy on grits," says the site. "They were amazing." Boing Boing Video also shot some post-concert jamming with band member Dom and special guests.

Paste magazine, which has already included Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot among the decade's best albums, has now chosen its Ten Best Producers of the Decade. Making the list are three producers whose work during that time includes several projects on Nonesuch, as producer and otherwise: Tucker Martine (Laura Veirs, Bill Frisell, Robin Holcomb), T Bone Burnett (Sam Phillips, solo), and Danger Mouse (The Black Keys).

Tony Allen—best known for his work as drummer and musical director for Fela Kuti—will make his Nonesuch debut with the release of Secret Agent on April 13. Following the album's European release on World Circuit earlier this year, The Guardian proclaimed, “There is no question that Tony Allen is a genius, one of the greatest percussionists in the history of popular music,” while Observer Music Monthly said, “If you’re wondering why Afrobeat is hip, start here.”

Bill Frisell "keeps stirring up fine and fresh new ideas" ... the St. Lawrence makes "big news" with Adams's String Quartet ... Dan Auerbach takes tour to Canada ... Carolina Chocolate Drops do three dates in California ... Shawn Colvin plays Portland, Maine ... Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe are in Osaka ... Kronos plays Reich at the Kimmel Center ... The Low Anthem, Blind Pilot visit Virginia ... Brad Mehldau Trio tours France, Spain ... Youssou N'Dour docu delivers in Denver ... Nicholas Payton plays St. Louis ... Wilco bookends Baltic Rolling Stone fest with sold-out sets ... and more ...

Caetano Veloso has won the 2009 Latin Grammy Award for Best Singer-Songwriter Album for his latest release in Brazil, Zii e Zie. The Guardian, in its four-star review of the album, describes its songs as "intimate and surprising." Caetano was also recognized for his work on a video celebrating the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim. The 10th annual Latin Grammy Awards ceremony was held last night in Las Vegas.

John Adams's new blog, Hell Mouth, has been given a "cheers" in The Guardian, which describes the blog as both "hilarious" and "brilliant." The St. Lawrence String Quartet continues its world tour with the String Quartet Adams wrote for the group in 2008, in concerts in Des Moines and Ann Arbor this weekend. The Detroit Free Press says "the appearance of a new Adams string quartet is big news."

Natalie Merchant will perform and discuss a selection of songs from her forthcoming Nonesuch release at the new Free Word Centre in London on November 18. She has been researching, writing, and recording a collection of songs adapted from the works of various classic and contemporary poets; the evening will give a unique insight into the project prior to the album’s release in early 2010.

Kronos Quartet performed at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday as part of Kronos's Perspectives series, the only artist to be given such a focus this season. It also happens to coincide with the Hall's current festival of Chinese music, and, says the New York Times, "Of the many Western ensembles trooping into Carnegie to play Chinese music (or music about China) the Kronos is by far the most adept at cultural crossing over."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are on tour in California this week, performing at UC Santa Barbara tomorrow night. The Santa Barbara Independent spoke with band member Don Flemons to preview the show and discuss the resurgent old-time string band music scene. Fans across the country can catch the group's performance on Later ... with Jools Holland on Ovation TV tonight.

Ry Cooder and Nick Lowe's tour of Japan, New Zealand, and Australia begins in Nagoya, Japan, tonight. Joachim Cooder will join on drums, and singer Juliette Commagere as special guest vocalist. In the Japanese concert programs, Ry offers a short text giving a little taste of what to expect at the shows as only Cooder could. The Nonesuch Journal has an exclusive first-look at that here.