Cesaria Evora, the Cape Verdean singer known as the "Barefoot Diva," died on Saturday at the age of 70. The Grammy Award-winning singer was the best-known performer of "morna," Cape Verde's national music, and released four acclaimed albums on Nonesuch Records between 1995 and 1999: Cesaria Evora, Cabo Verde, Miss Perfumado, and Mar Azul. The New York Times wrote of her Nonesuch debut: "Somewhere on the spectrum between Sade and Billie Holiday sits Ms. Evora, a singer from the Cape Verde Islands whose songs of loss and longing are as heart-rending as they are spellbinding."

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess opens in previews on Broadway, starring Audra McDonald, "a Bess for the ages" (Boston Globe) ... The Black Keys are on NPR's World Cafe ... Shawn Colvin closes out the year in California ... Emmylou Harris hosts Miracle on Music Row benefit for her dog rescue in Nashville, then plays the Opry at the Ryman ... Brad Mehldau closes out the year in Tbilisi, Georgia ... Sara Watkins concludes tour with the Blind Boys of Alabama out West ... and more ...

The Brad Mehldau Trio’s seven-disc box set The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996–2001, featuring longtime Brad Mehldau Trio bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, earns four stars in the Guardian, which says "the trio created a private world for their listeners to get lost in, and this is the definitive representation of it." The review cites the trio's "almost telepathic intuitiveness" that led to a "mind-boggling" performance. The Financial Times gives it four stars as well, saying it "documents Mehldau’s virtuosity" and confirms "this trio as both yardstick and model for contemporary piano jazz." The Buffalo News calls the set "indisputably great." KPCC says: "Mehldau makes renegade jazz, and this comprehensive collection shows him at his finest."

The NPR Music listeners have spoken, choosing their 100 favorite albums of 2011. "The Black Keys swooped into the No. 6 slot with El Camino," says NPR, "an album just a few days older than the poll itself." "I was pretty thrilled by this list," says NPR's Bob Boilen in the All Songs Considered countdown of the Top 25. Also among the Top 100 listener favorites are Björk's Biophilia and Emmylou Harris's Hard Bargain. Björk's "Virus" is among the NPR Music staff's favorite songs of the year, as is James Farm's "Polliwog."

Congratulations to The Black Keys: the band's new album, El Camino, debuted this week at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 with sales of 206,000 units—far and away the band’s best single-week performance and their highest chart position to date! By comparison, the band’s previous best week was for Brothers, which debuted in May 2010 with sales of 73,000 units. The band will embark on the first leg of their US tour this March, with shows in arenas like Boston’s TD Garden, Chicago’s United Center, and New York’s Madison Square Garden, which sold out in 15 minutes, resulting in the swift addition of a second concert. Special guests Arctic Monkeys open on the tour.

With the holidays right around the corner, now's the perfect time to head to the Nonesuch Store and receive 34% off the standard retail price on all CDs, LPs, and DVDs. That's an extra savings of about 20% off the everyday low prices listed on the site. As always, all US orders over $20 receive free standard shipping. To receive in-stock items by December 23 in the US, standard-shipping orders should be placed by 9 PM ET this Thursday, December 15. Rush orders should be placed by Friday.

Emmylou Harris will be honored by the Grand Ole Opry on the occasion of her 20th anniversary as an Opry member on January 21, 2012, at the historic Ryman Auditorium. Her 20-year milestone will be celebrated with performances by the honoree, Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Shawn Colvin, making her Opry debut, and more.

The line-up for the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been announced, and among the artists performing at next year's Jazz Fest are three performers familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Cheikh Lô, and New Orleans' own Allen Toussaint. All three are performing during the festival's opening weekend, April 27–29, 2012, at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans.

Brad Mehldau’s seven-disc box set The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996–2001 is now available on both sides of the Atlantic via Nonesuch Records, following last week's North American release and this week's European release. "[F]or five years from 1996 the Brad Mehldau Trio were playing music together that few at the time could ignore and which with The Art Of The Trio Recordings: 1996–2001 still more will arrive at," predicts Jazzwise magazine. The Trio's work is showcased "in the greatest depth possible ... all documented in one place in a carefully annotated box set with additional unreleased material."

The Black Keys followed a week of performances in NYC celebrating the release of their new album, El Camino, with a weekend on the West Coast. They performed at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas, at which "the guys could have converted almost anyone in attendance to the Church of Keys with the way the audience hung on to every word and guitar stroke," reports MTV, and at the Video Game Awards (VGA). You can watch their VGA performance of the El Camino tune "Lonely Boy" here.

Sara Watkins—who, with her brother Sean, is currently on tour in California with the Blind Boys of Alabama—will soon be heading back into the studio to record her second solo album for Nonesuch Records. The album, which will be produced by Blake Mills, is due out sometime next year. Watkins will be taking fans inside the recording process as it happens when she posts audio clips from each day's session to her Facebook page and website.

The Black Keys cap off release week for their new album, El Camino, with a performance at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas in LA; watch the livestream here ... Carolina Chocolate Drops close out 2011 in Tennessee ... Elliott Carter turns 103! ... Jessica Lea Mayfield plays Toronto and Chicago with Ryan Adams ... McGarrigles and Wainwrights celebrate Christmas in Montreal in tribute to Kate McGarrigle ... Sara Watkins celebrates Christmas with the Blind Boys of Alabama in California ... and more ...