Natalie Merchant Ophelia (Elektra) The old-time twirl girl is back. And so is her unmistakable, ethereal voice and lush, sing-along melodies. On Ophelia, Natalie Merchant plays bandleader and matchmaker, changing the lineup of musicians from song to song, yet somehow maintaining the same trancelike atmosphere throughout the album. It’s an…

The Headhunters Return of the Headhunters! (Verve) Herbie Hancock turned the jazz world on its ear in 1973 when he recorded Headhunters, an album that combined jazz and funk with the then-outlandish sounds of the synthesizer, an instrument with which Hancock had never before recorded. Headhunters became the best-selling jazz…

Jim Lauderdale Whisper (BNA/BMG) After bouncing from Reprise to Atlantic to the Nashville indie Upstart, neocountry master Jim Lauderdale is back on a major label with an album that neatly summarizes the singer-songwriter’s brilliant, if commercially underwhelming, career. Whisper strikes a balance between the vibrant honky-tonk of his 1991 debut,…