Rokia Traoré has been named a Regional Goodwill Ambassador for West and Central Africa for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. "It is an honor to take on this role at such a vital time for refugees," said Traoré, who has been working with UNHCR since 2013 to raise awareness about the forcibly displaced, particularly in Africa. To mark her appointment as Goodwill Ambassador, Traoré has released a special video of the title track from her new album Né So, which means "Home" in her native Bambara language. It is dedicated to Malian refugees as well as those displaced around the world. You can watch it here.

Nonesuch releases a pair of new albums from guitarist, composer, and bandleader Pat Metheny on May 6, 2016. Metheny is well-known as a musical collaborator, and both records feature friends and colleagues with whom he has worked for years. The Unity Sessions is taken from a filmed performance with Pat Metheny Unity Group that was recently released on DVD, and Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny joins the guitarist with a trio led by longtime Pat Metheny Group trumpeter Cuong Vu. Pre-orders of each include an instant download of a track from its album.

Kronos Quartet, Punch Brothers, Chris Thile, Sam Amidon play Cincinnati's MusicNOW Festival … Seattle Symphony performs John Adams's Scheherazade.2 … Laurie Anderson brings new piece to Minnesota … Timo Andres is in Albany … Jon Brion performs Punch-Drunk Love at Brooklyn screening … Jeremy Denk plays Seattle, San Francisco … Rhiannon Giddens is in Australia … Lake Street Dive plays Philadelphia, Richmond … Clint Mansell performs his film scores in LA … Natalie Merchant tours Europe … Robert Plant concludes tour in Texas … Joshua Redman Trio, Rokia Traoré tour Europe too … and more …

Laurie Anderson was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night. She discussed and shared a clip from her new film, Heart of a Dog, and gave a special live performance from her Concert for Dogs before a lucky group of canines. You can watch it here. The film, for which Nonesuch released the soundtrack, is available to download on iTunes and VUDU through March 29 and will receive its broadcast premiere on HBO on April 25.

Lake Street Dive, currently performing sold-out shows on its Side Pony tour, has announced several new dates in June. The band has also unveiled the music video for the title track to the new album. The video, directed by Greg Kaplan, was filmed live at the famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City. You can watch it and see all of the currently announced shows here.

The Arcs celebrated the release of Yours, Dreamily, their debut album, with a sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC in September. You can now watch a video of their performance of the album track "Put a Flower in Your Pocket" from the show, in which they're joined by special guests Mariachi Flor de Toloache, here. The band kicks off a spring tour of North America in April.

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters' taping of the Austin City Limits show will stream live on March 21. Plant returns to the ACL stage for the first time in more than a decade, and fans around the world can tune in to the show’s YouTube Channel to watch the entire performance as it happens live from The Moody Theater in Austin. The taping will be the final performance of Plant and the band's current "Southern Journey" tour of the American South. The broadcast version will air on PBS as part of the series' upcoming Season 42, which launches this fall.

Nonesuch releases a live double album from Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil—Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música: Multishow Live—on April 8, 2016. This recording documents a historic reunion from the legendary Brazilian singers, songwriters, and guitarists. Recorded during a concert in Brazil in 2015, the album celebrates a lifelong friendship over the half-century careers of two artists who have broken cultural, social, and political barriers through music. They tour the US in April, with stops in LA, Oakland, Miami, and Brooklyn. Album pre-orders include an instant download of a new song, available for the first time on this recording.

Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, and the Rajasthan Express perform Junun live at the Barbican in London … Jeremy Denk joins Chicago Symphony Orchestra … Kronos Quartet performs in its hometown of San Francisco … Lake Street Dive takes world tour to Chicago for two sold-out shows … Audra McDonald's Lady Day debuts on HBO ... Brad Mehldau concludes European solo tour … Natalie Merchant plays sold-out show in NYC … Pat Metheny celebrates Roy Haynes' birthday at the Blue Note … Robert Plant continues to tour the American South … Joshua Redman is in Switzerland … Steve Reich gives a master class in London … Rokia Traoré concludes French leg of Né So tour … and more …

St Germain (Ludovic Navarre), in support of his recently released self-titled album, has embarked on a world tour, which comes to North America this spring. Today, St Germain debuts a live long-form video clip from his performance at The Bataclan in Paris on November 12, 2015. Filmed by Charlotte Vasseneix, who directed the video for his song "Real Blues," it highlights St Germain's first Parisian show in over a decade. You can watch the video, which premiered via Thump, here. A digital EP of four remixes of tracks from the new album this Friday.

Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores, is set to take place on Saturday, April 16, 2016, and included among the special releases on that day are the first-ever vinyl release of Clint Mansell's haunting score to Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film Requiem for a Dream, performed by Kronos Quartet, and the first worldwide vinyl release of Emmylou Harris's Grammy Award–winning, Daniel Lanois–produced album Wrecking Ball.

Natalie Merchant kicks off an international tour featuring music her recently released album Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings with a performance at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco tonight. The tour continues with shows at the Orpheum in LA and the Beacon Theatre in NYC, then heads to Europe for shows in London, Berlin, Utrecht, Brussels, Manchester, and Dublin. Merchant closes out the tour with a second show at the Beacon at the end of the month. The majority of concerts are sold out; select tickets are currently still available in LA, London, and Brussels.