Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love premieres at BAM's Muslim Voices festival in June. "He lives so successfully by his convictions, and shows us a very different Islam than what we see in the media," the film's director tells New York. "And his voice is extraordinary. If you watch his band Super Etoile perform, you’ll follow them to the edge of the earth." Robert Cole, who is retiring from Cal Performances after 20-plus years at its helm, says: "Of the artists we've had relationships with, certainly Youssou N'Dour is one of the greatest." At a recent UN-led World Malaria Day event, N'Dour and Malaria No More launched a campaign to encourage the use of mosquito nets in Senegal and help prevent the spread of the disease.

Youssou N'Dour and global non-profit IntraHealth International have teamed up with Indaba Music to launch a global remix contest, featuring Youssou's song "Wake Up (It’s Africa Calling)," from his most recent Nonesuch release, Rokku mi Rokka (Give and Take). Artists like Duncan Sheik, Nas, and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck have donated remixes of the song to raise funds for the IntraHealth OPEN initiative, which provides health workers in developing countries with the latest open-source software technologies. Now, the same tracks used by those artists are being made available to the global music community on Indaba, an online music collaboration tool, allowing fans to rework the song themselves.

Amadou & Mariam's latest album, Welcome to Mali, is set for US release on Nonesuch tomorrow. The duo is the subject of a number of feature-length articles about changing perceptions in the West of African musics beyond "world music." The New York Times places them "among the world’s most renowned African musical acts" and says the new album is "less an abandonment of the group’s culture than an updating of it." The Los Angeles Times cites the success of Amadou & Mariam, who "helped define the current African shift," and of Youssou N'Dour, Oumou Sangare, and Rokia Traoré, as examples that "the American cliché of African music is falling apart—or, really, exploding." Detroit Free-Press gives Welcome to Mali four stars, calling it "a spirited invitation to dance away those recession-induced blues and welcome spring ... This is a feel-good album. Don't miss it."

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, the film documenting the creation of Youssou's 2004 Grammy-winning album, Egypt, recently completed its theatrical run in the Netherlands and will open in theaters in Belgium on March 25. The film, already the winner of a number of international film festival awards, from the Middle East to Brazil, made its US premiere earlier this week at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it is an Official Selection; the final SxSW festival screening will take place Saturday night. In the next few months, the film will premiere at many film festivals in both the US and Europe. 

Youssou N'Dour is partnering with IntraHealth International, the non-profit working to promote sustainable, accessible health care around the world, on a charity album titled OPEN Remix. It will benefit a new IntraHealth OPEN Initiative, created to address critical health issues in Africa by putting the latest open-source software technologies directly in the hands of health workers. Nas, Duncan Sheik, Peter Buck, and other artists have joined Youssou in the effort, donating remixes of his song "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)" to raise funds and visibility for the new initiative.

Youssou N'Dour and the Super Étoile band join the festivities at Glasgow's annual Celtic Connections when they headline a concert at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Auditorium tonight. Scotland's Sunday Herald recently profiled Youssou, calling him "one of the world's most soulful singers," possessing "a fluttering, virtuoso voice of extraordinary power," and standing out as "one of world music's few genuine superstars." Scotland's STV asserts that, of all the scores of artists performing at the two-week festival, "Youssou N'Dour will without doubt prove to be one of the main draws."

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, the documentary film that follows N'Dour as he records and tours with his Grammy-winning 2004 album, Egypt, begins its European theatrical release today in six cities across the Netherlands. After the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last summer, the Toronto Star described it as "a stirring documentary" that "pulses with life and energy." The film is slated for US release on June 12.

The Grammy nominations are in, and a big congratulations goes out to the many Nonesuch artists whose work has been recognized by the Recording Academy, the organization behind the awards. Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Toumani Diabaté, Youssou N'Dour, Stephen Sondheim, Jonny Greenwood, and Isabel Bayrakdarian were all recognized for their recent Nonesuch releases, as were producers Danger Mouse and Judith Sherman for their work on Nonesuch albums this year.

"Exuberance and wisdom find equal expression in the music of Youssou N'Dour, the Senegalese singer, songwriter and ambassador," writes the New York Times in its recommendation of the Great African Ball, Youssou's all-night musical celebration in New York City. It runs tonight and tomorrow night and, says the Times, "is likely to be one of the year’s great musical events." The Village Voice also recommends this "mbalax marathon" for the ecstatic live set from "the continent's most inventive and internationally renowned musician."

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, a new feature film by director Chai Vasarhelyi documenting the creation of and worldwide response to N'Dour's Grammy-winning 2004 album, Egypt, won the audience award at the closing ceremonies of the 32nd Annual São Paulo International Film Festival last week. The film debuted at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals earlier this year and was awarded the Black Pearl Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago.

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, the new film by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, has won the Black Pearl Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Middle East International Film Festival. The film follows N'Dour as he records and tours with his Grammy-winning 2004 album, Egypt. N'Dour himself performed following the film's screening at the festival, held in Abu Dhabi.

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, a new film documenting the making of Egypt, Youssou's seminal 2004 musical exploration of Islam, makes its Telluride Film Festival debut this weekend. While the schedule of screenings remains hush-hush until the proceedings begin tomorrow, it's safe to assume that Youssou will be involved in the festivities. The film examines the critical and public response to the album at home in Senegal, and abroad, where it garnered a Grammy Award. The following week, the film will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Youssou will also perform in a free concert.