I spent a solid hour this morning watching dust motes suspended in a single shaft of sunlight, my entire nervous system held absolutely captive by Magdi Aboul-Kheir and his devastatingly immersive new album, "Slow Heat". The Germany-based journalist and classically trained pianist usually writes across a massive spectrum of genres, pivoting wildly from trance to late romanticism. Today, he has dropped an ambient, contemporary...

Bruce Sudano, a native son with big dreams, an American music legend, he has written songs recorded by the likes of Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and his late, Grammy-winning wife, Donna Summer. Sudano not only writes songs but also runs the record label Purple Heart Recording Company. Sudano's first band was founded when he was just 13 years old, marking the beginning of his...