The Black Keys' singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach stopped by the studios of New York public radio station WFUV for an episode of Words & Music from Studio A to perform songs from his recent solo release, Keep It Hid, with his uncle James Quine, and discuss the project with the show's host, Russ Borris, who calls the album "a fine piece of work ... marked by warm production and some of the best vocals Auerbach has recorded to date."

Amadou & Mariam's latest album, Welcome to Mali, was recently described by Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis as "a constant source of sunshine" in a difficult time for much of the world. In a series of video interviews for Nonesuch.com, with concert footage and archival photos featured throughout, the couple shares some of the inspiration behind their new album, with input from album contributor Damon Albarn, and their lifelong commitment to spreading joy through music. To watch all of these videos, along with a live performance of the album track "Sebeke," visit nonesuch.com/media.

Ashes of American Flags, the new film by Christoph Green and Fugazi’s Brendan Canty documenting the live Wilco concert experience, is due out on DVD in the Nonesuch Store on Saturday, April 18, and will be screened at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado, tonight. "The members of Wilco are road dogs," says the Colorado Daily, an idea brought to life in the film, which sees them playing "playing blazing, sweaty sets at historic concert halls ... The movie’s concert scenes show the members of Wilco celebrating every stage moment, while the audiences are mesmerized with every moment of the performances."

David Byrne will open the 2009 season of Celebrate Brooklyn!, one of New York City's longest running, free, outdoor concert series, with a free concert ($3 suggested donation) in Brooklyn's Prospect Park Bandshell the night of Monday, June 8, its organizers have announced. The series, which has offered free concerts in the Park since 1979, launches its first-ever Opening Night Green Gala, preceding the concert, to support the festival's programs and its efforts to present more environmentally responsible events, including the first-ever large-scale bike parking area at a cultural event in New York.

Sara Watkins's self-titled solo debut is out today on Nonesuch. To mark the occasion, Sara is in New York City, where she'll perform on Soundcheck this afternoon at 2 PM ET, with her brother and Nickel Creek band mate, Sean Watkins, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, both of whom are among the stellar list of guest artists on the new album. Sara begins an extensive US tour later this week and returns to New York on Monday to perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

John Adams's 2008 String Quartet, only his second piece for the medium after 1994's John's Book of Alleged Dances, "is a stunner," says the San Jose Mercury News, following the West Coast premiere by the St. Lawrence String Quartet at Stanford last Sunday. "[T]he piece emerged as one of his most brilliant and inventive masterworks," asserts the Mercury News, and "boasts all the attributes audiences have come to associate with Adams' best music ... [T]his is Adams at his most gripping."

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali gets "an enthusiastic double-'Buy It' rating" from the hosts of Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions, Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times) and Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune). "During a rather dark, dismal, and dire week, this album was a constant source of sunshine," says DeRogatis. "This is joyous, celebratory music, absolutely, positively uplifting in its mix of Africa and the West. I love these guys to pieces." Kot concurs: "This is a great record ... I don't think I've heard a better album, beginning to end, than Welcome to Mali, in 2009." On NPR's All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen says, "They have a deep history of making music together, but nothing quite like their new record  ... Welcome to Mali will surely be one of the best world music records of 2009."

Sara Watkins's self-titled Nonesuch debut is out this week, and, says the BBC, this founding member of Nickel Creek "steps out with a confident stride with her debut solo release." The review calls it "an assured debut ... Watkins' time in the spotlight is a triumph with her agile playing and the kind of voice that gives your goosebumps the shivers." Scotland on Sunday says "it's her affectingly authentic voice that makes her such a superb example of the new Americana." The Washington Post's Express Night Out says Sara's "performances are now in a league with the stylistically similar Allison Krauss." The Kansas City Star says it's an album "for anyone who likes the sound of a good singer and a good band hammering out good music."

Audra McDonald will be among Broadway's finest at New York's Roseland Ballroom tonight for the Roundabout Theatre Company's Spring Gala, Take Me Back to Manhattan, a one-night-only celebration of the New York's big-band era. The performance, which benefits the Roundabout's Musical Theatre Fund, features music by Rodgers, Porter, Arlen, Berlin, Ellington, and Gershwin. Tonight's event will be hosted by Nathan Lane and is also scheduled to include performances by Michael Cerveris, Kelli O'Hara, Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick, Mario Cantone, Jane Krakowski, Cynthia Nixon, Denis O'Hare, Martha Plimpton.

The Low Anthem, the newest member of the Nonesuch artist roster, opens for Ray LaMontagne, Josh Ritter ... St. Lawrence String Quartet gives West Coast premiere of Adams String Quartet ... Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed play Yongey Peace Center benefit concert ... Dan Auerbach tours Australia ... David Byrne brings Byrne/Eno songs across England ... Christina Courtin takes over at NYC's Rockwood Music Hall ... Toumani Diabaté, Béla Fleck's Africa Project tour the South ... Bill Frisell concludes Disfarmer Project concerts in California ...  Philip Glass leads workshops at Pennsylvania academy, toasts Allen Ginsburg with Patti Smith in NYC ... Brad Mehldau Trio closes out week in France ... Youssou N'Dour doc screens at Wisconsin Film Fest ... Punch Brothers tour Midwest ... Joshua Redman Trio plays five nights at Yoshi's ... Alvin Ailey and Ballet Tech dance to Reich ... and more ...

The Amadou & Mariam song "Sabali" has grabbed a lot of attention as the opening track to their recent Nonesuch release, Welcome to Mali. Produced by Blur/Gorrillaz front man Damon Albarn, the song is listed among "the most intriguing tracks" this week, according to USA Today. RCRD LBL has chosen a Paul Epworth remix of this "electro-pop miracle" as its MP3 of the Day. Amadou & Mariam are also featured in yesterday's episode of WNYC's Soundcheck, in which New York Times writer Will Hermes follows up on his recent Times article on the changing sounds and perceptions of African music in a more diverse world.

Bay Area native Joshua Redman is back on his home turf this week to play a five-night residency—nine shows—at Yoshi's in Oakland, beginning tonight, with bassist Matt Penman, of the SFJAZZ Collective, and drummer Greg Hutchinson, a featured player on Redman's latest Nonesuch release, the double-trio album Compass. Branford Marsalis tells the San Jose Mercury News of the special affinity between Redman and his drummer, calling Hutchinson "the perfect foil for Josh."