“Under African Skies,” a new documentary from Joe Berlinger on the making of Paul Simon’s Graceland, will debut on Jan. 22 at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

John Oates continues to dig deeper into his musical roots as a fan of blues and R&B with a new live album to be released in February. Recorded at Sirius XM Radio, it will be called The Bluesville Sessions.

A half-hour Q&A on guitarist Dave Navarro’s Twitter page inevitably focused on the two bands he’s played in — Jane’s Addiction vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Gregg Allman was named international artist of the year, while New Brunswick bluesman Matt Andersen was named the year’s top acoustic act, male vocalist and entertainer at Canada’s 15th Maple Blues Awards ceremonies overnight.

Levon Helm, the Grammy-winning co-founding member of the Band, is set to undergo an undisclosed medical procedure that will keep him from performing for at least a month.

Here’s a run down — with a few of our thoughts — on some notable music projects, both new and reissue, slated for release for the week of Jan. 16, 2012.

HBO will air an in-depth documentary look at The Union, the memorable 2010 collaboration between Elton John and longtime idol Leon Russell.

A member of the Bruce Springsteen camp tells the Hollywood Reporter that the singer-songwriter is venturing into some unexpected areas on his as-yet-untitled new release — including loops, electronic percussion and influences as diverse as Irish folk and even hip hop.

Fresh off a Grammy nomination for his silky-smooth R&B project The Reflection, Keb’ Mo’ says he’ll likely return to his blues roots for his next album — though he no regrets about dabbling in new sounds.

Ailing Black Sabbath co-founder Tony Iommi thanked fans for their outpouring of good wishes in a statement — and vowed to continue to work on a long-awaited project featuring the band’s original lineup despite his recent lymphoma diagnosis.