After a long layoff, Lani Hall returns with a fabulous new album, "Brasil Nativo" (Windham Hill Jazz 01934 11372-2). It's been a nearly constant companion for me since its arrival a few weeks ago. Even the best recordings don't always stand up to repeated playing. But "Brasil Nativo" is the rare exception.

Hall, who's married to trumpet magician Herb Alpert of Tijuana Jazz fame, possesses one of those rare voices. With a touch of the classic, that voice caresses words. Her enunciation and inflection approach perfection. The overall effect is magical.

The album opens with a magical track, "Tres Curumins (Three Young Indians)." Sung in a native Amazon Indian language, it is five minutes and four seconds of stunning performance. Hall has said, "Each song is like a flower opening up, exposing new color and fragrance, strength and fragility."

The album features new arrangements of both familiar and obscure Brazilian songs. Some are sung in English, others in their native Portuguese. The result is ethereal, comforting, and at times thrilling.

Alpert's distinctive trumpet contributes to several tracks, his slurred intonation giving a familiar base to these lush and diverting arrangements. Hall does a simply great job on the familiar "Mas Que Nada," in a more reserved rhythm than previous versions. Her rendition of the beautiful "Waters of March" will make you forget previous attempts to render this Antonio Carlos Jobim classic.

Wanting to leave the rigors of the road and to raise Alpert's daughter, Hall retired from active recording in the mid '80s. She began writing fiction. She produced and edited a TV special, "The Very Best of Herb Alpert."

She says that the blend of primitive and classical influences in Brasilian music "led me back to recording. To me, the music is both holy and of the earth, lifting the spirit to a higher place yet at the same time pulling you to its deeper roots. That juxtaposition thrill inspires me, and that is what I wanted to capture."

Lani Hall is indeed thrilling. And "Brasil Nativo" must be counted as one of the best jazz pop albums of 1998.

Tears may be the order of the day once you listen to Eva Cassidy sing. Not that her album, "Songbird" (Blix Street G2-10045), is necessarily filled with weepy songs. It's the knowledge that after hearing this singer, you'll want more. And there won't be any.

Eva Cassidy, based in Washington, D.C., was at the beginning of what seemed to be a major career when she came down with bone cancer in the fall of 1996. Only 33, she died on Nov. 2 that year. After her death The Washington Post published a profile that spoke of her insecure feelings about singing, her unawareness of how she affected listeners.

Blix Street is to be commended for giving Cassidy national distribution, despite the fact that the death of an unknown performer is perhaps the greatest irony of all. "Songbird" culls the best cuts from Cassidy's three albums, which were available only in the D.C. area during her lifetime.

The album opens with a hypnotic version of the Sting hit, "Fields of Gold," that easily outdoes the British warbler. Cassidy turns the song into a lament with her heartbreaking voice, but it's more than a tear inducer. It's a great performance. The rest of the album varies in quality, mostly because of the occcasional mundane choices of songs. But she was a rare performer with a truly stunning sound. You'll find her irresistible on "Wade in the Water" and subtle on the charming cover of "People Get Ready."

The Post said of Cassidy that she could sing anything "and make it sound like it was the only music that mattered." Her death at the beginning of her career is truly a tragedy. And "Songbird" is worth adding to your music collection.

Shawn Colvin reached the stratosphere of the pop music world last year when one of the folk singer's tunes rode the top of the Billboard charts. Later she won a Grammy. As has been true for so many others, this "overnight success" came following a long ride in the trenches of folk music.

Demonstrating that Colvin was just as winning a decade ago is the new release, "Shawn Colvin Live '88," (Plump 5901-2), mostly recorded in Somerville, Mass. back in April of that year. The album contains tracks done in 1990, too. The music is excellent and Colvin's voice is perfect for contemplative songs, nine of the 11 tunes penned by Colvin, either alone or in collaboration with J. Leventhal. She also does a Paul Simon composition, "Kathy's Song."

Good music, excellent sound, especially for new Colvin fans interested in her past.

Normally a jazz band fronted by a drummer is a signal of ego run mad. Although my own musical experience was principally as a mediocre talent who owned a drum kit, I never fell in love with the sound of drum solos. To me, drums are the foundation and seldom need to take front and center.

Simon Phillips is the leader on "Symbiosis" (Lipstick LIP 8936-2), which showcases an excellent group of jazz talents, with stellar support by the solid drumming of Phillips. Some of the country's best session players are present, including Mike Porcaro, Ray Russell, and Mitchel Forman. Even the lovely Sheila E. does her thing with the timbales.

While Phillips can be heard, he doesn't attempt to overwhelm the other performers, which is as it should be. Good album.

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