Randy Newman’s new song, “Stay Away,” a PSA about COVID-19 safety, is now available to purchase and stream. Proceeds will benefit the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans, a city to which Newman has a deep, lifelong personal connection. "New Orleans is really suffering, and since African Americans are taking the brunt of the punishment, I thought something to help the Ninth Ward would be a good idea,” Newman said. “The Ellis Marsalis Center has a great reputation among musicians and people I know who live in the city. If the song makes a great deal of money, all bets are off.”

The Magnetic Fields have released "(I Want to Join A) Biker Gang," a new song from their forthcoming album, Quickies, due in May. Quickies features twenty-eight new short songs by Stephin Merritt, ranging in length from thirteen seconds to two minutes and thirty-five seconds. You can watch the video for "(I Want to Join A) Biker Gang" here now. The Magnetic Fields residencies at City Winery venues originally scheduled for this spring and summer have been rescheduled for January and February 2021, due to COVID-19.

Lake Street Dive, whose Lounge Around Sounds tour was due to be taking place now, will bring the joy and silliness of the planned tour from their own homes to those of fans around the world with the online Lounge Around Sounds Variety Hour of music, story-telling, jokes, and games. Tune in via the band's Facebook page and website on Wednesday, April 22, at 8pm ET, to join in on an hour of pay-what-you-can fun. Pajamas encouraged. A portion of the night’s proceeds will go to Off Their Plate, an organization helping feed frontline healthcare workers.

Devendra Banhart has released a cover of Ioanna Gika's song "Swan" on Banhart's YouTube and Gika's Bandcamp with all proceeds going to the Downtown Women's Center in Los Angeles. You can hear it here. "It is a pleasure to hear the song through Devendra’s distinct voice and vision," Gika says. "He is not only a prodigious artist, but one whom I have always appreciated for the way that he fosters community. Together, we have decided that we would like all proceeds from this cover to go to the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles. Providing housing, healthcare, and assistance, the DWC is an important organization and one that is meaningful to us both."

Lianne La Havas joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jules Buckley for a performance at Barbican Hall in London in February. On the program was a special orchestral version of La Havas's new song, "Bittersweet," which you can now see here. The full concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at 7:30pm BST on April 28.

Ellis Marsalis, who passed away due to complications from COVID-19 earlier this month, spent the last decade of his life doing what he loved—educating underserved children and young musicians—at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in the Musicians' Village of New Orleans' Ninth Ward. Nonesuch Records is proud to have contributed to the Center over the decade through sales of the 2005 album Our New Orleans and encourages those who can to help the Center continue its invaluable work by donating at ellismarsaliscenter.org/donate.

Attacca Quartet helped celebrate the tenth anniversary of WNYC/WQXR's The Greene Space and mark the release of its recording of Caroline Shaw's Orange with a performance at the venue on April 12, 2019. The event, which also includes a Q&A with New Sounds host John Schaefer, was revisited in a live stream yesterday and can be seen here. Orange, for which Attacca Quartet earned the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, will be released on a two-LP vinyl edition later this year.

Ry Cooder has written a new song "Congregatin'," a public service message encouraging everyone to do the opposite and social distance to combat COVID-19. Or, as he sings: no more congregatin'. You can watch him perform the song from home here.

Guatemalan-born singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno has released "Yo Me Quedo en Casa," a new video in partnership with UNICEF Guatemala and with the help of some young family members and friends to remind everyone to stay home and practice social distancing to help stop COVID-19. You can watch it and find the lyrics here. And, as part of UNICEF's efforts to promote learning at home, families are encouraged to record a video of their children singing the song using the hashtag #AprendoEnCasa. Moreno was named a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Guatemala in February.

Randy Newman performs a new song, "Stay Away," as a reminder of the importance of social distancing to combat COVID-19. He wrote the song in response to a request from California public radio station KPCC. You can watch it and read the lyrics here.

We are saddened by the loss of producer Hal Willner, who has died from symptoms consistent with COVID-19 at the age of 64. Nonesuch Records President David Bither offers a remembrance.

Jeremy Denk launched Bach's Well-Tempered Lens, a series of online events for WNYC/WQXR's The Greene Space in NYC with a deep dive into Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book I. Denk was at the piano performing and doing analysis and interpretation from his upstate barn. "When I started practicing it, I felt that I was plugged into a kind of contentment that I wasn't used to having," Denk says. "It made me feel a kind of happiness and a kind of at-oneness with time that I wasn't really used to." You can watch it here.