Punch Brothers' fall tour is headed to the University of Michigan's Power Center in Ann Arbor tonight. Though the band's 2008 Nonesuch debut, Punch, also marks the band's first as Punch Brothers, "they’ve already made their mark on the newgrass/new-acoustic scene," says AnnArbor.com in an interview with fiddler Gabe Witcher, "as they’ve created their own, unique variation on that ambitious hybrid of bluegrass, jazz and classical-music elements."

Joshua Redman's latest Nonesuch release, Compass, is out now. The recording features both trio and double trio formats, creating tracks that are "harmonically rich, rhythmically vibrant and bristling with creative complexity," says All About Jazz. "Redman's newly discovered easy-going effortlessness makes this the crowning achievement of his career."

Brad Mehldau begins the jazz series he's programmed at London's Wigmore Hall in a duo concert with Joshua Redman next week. NPR's jazz blog A Blog Supreme recently listed the pianist's recordings as the best introduction to the jazz of today, citing his 2002 Jon Brion–produced Largo as chief among them. "This album was a big one for me," said one panelist. "It fuses masterful jazz improvisation with modern rock production."

It was a music festival–filled fall weekend with Austin City Limits and San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass featuring a total of six Nonesuch artists: The Low Anthem, Sara Watkins, and Dan Auerbach in Austin; Emmylou Harris, Allen Toussaint, and Amadou & Mariam in San Francisco. And St. Louis welcomed Wilco to the Farm Aid benefit concert for a set Rolling Stone says "brought the crowd to its feet."

Seya, Oumou Sangare's first international release in six years, received its US release on Nonesuch earlier this year to great acclaim. Audiophile Audition adds its own praise with a five-star review. "[T]he album is a delicious stew of exotic sounds and rhythms that tickle the ears and stir the senses," says the review. "'Seya' means 'Joy,' and considering the beauty and exultation it evokes it is aptly named."

Rokia Traoré was the featured artist on this past weekend's Transpacific Sound Paradise on New York independent radio station WFMU. Listen in to hear tracks from Rokia's latest Nonesuch release, Tchamantché, and an interview with the Malian-born singer/songwriter about the new sounds she explores on the album.

Amadou & Mariam, Emmylou Harris, Allen Toussaint hit SF's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass ... Dan Auerbach, The Low Anthem, Sara Watkins are at Austin City Limits Fest ... Laurie Anderson, Bill Frisell join Gavin Friday and friends at Carnegie Hall for (red) ... David Byrne talks bikes in car-centric LA ... Carolina Chocolate Drops drop into Ann Arbor and Chicago ... Christina Courtin plays Boston and Brooklyn ... Kronos performs Crumb's Black Angels in Boulder ... Punch Brothers head South ... Wilco plays Prairie Home Companion and Farm Aid ... and more ...

Wilco kicked off its North American tour last night at the University of Iowa and is at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota, tonight. The band stays on in St. Paul for a live broadcast performance of A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor on Saturday. Wilco plays the annual Farm Aid benefit concert, which will be broadcast live on DIRECTV and online on Sunday. Jeff Tweedy tells the Austin Chronicle about the joy of playing live, connecting with the audience: "I can't find anything better than that. You can feel it when a song means something to people."

Nonesuch Records will release its first album from Natalie Merchant in early 2010. The record is her first release since 2003's The House Carpenter's Daughter. Throughout her career, Merchant has had tremendous popular and critical success. Vogue has called her "one of the most successful and enduring alternative artists to emerge from the eighties—intact and uncompromised."

Alarm Will Sound will celebrate its recent Nonesuch debut, a/rhythmia, with a free album release party and listening event at New York City's (Le) Poisson Rouge on October 18. "Within three or four measures, the riot is in full swing," San Francisco Classical Voice says of the album. "This is totally engaging stuff ... tons of fun."

Thousands of music fans converge on Austin this weekend for the eighth Austin City Limits Music Festival. Three Nonesuch artists—The Low Anthem, Sara Watkins, and Dan Auerbach—will be among the more than 130 artists, spanning pop, country, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, indie rock, hip-hop, and gospel, to take the stage in Austin's Zilker Park over the coming three days.

Summer may be the season of festivals, but this fall weekend has two standouts: Austin City Limits and San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a free outdoor event that has three Nonesuch artists—Emmylou Harris, Allen Toussaint, and Amadou & Mariam—set to perform in Golden Gate Park. Both Harris and Amadou & Mariam have concerts in LA earlier in the week; the latter plays live on KCRW this morning.