NEW RELEASES : *** 1/2 PETE CHRISTLIEB AND BOB COOPER, “Mosaic”, <i> Capri</i>

The two fine mainstream sax men--both Los Angeles-area residents--are spotlighted here in a program recorded live in 1990 at a Portland, Ore., club. The date, which sports pianist Mike Wofford, bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Donald Bailey, sparkles with the spontaneity of unrehearsed, jam-session-style jazz.

Both players have sumptuous sounds--Cooper’s could be called elegant and is more weighty, while Christlieb’s gleams like a shining golden ball held to the light. Still, their approaches are distinctive, albeit equally foot-tapping and pleasing to the ear. Cooper, who merges swing and be-bop formats, tends to weave unified statements that build gradually to climaxes, whereas Christlieb is capable of sudden explosions that surprise and startle.

There are lots of choice items, from a bossa-nova romp through Strayhorn’s “Passion Flower” and a leisurely look at “Limehouse Blues” to a damn-the-torpedoes take of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Shaw ‘Nuff.” On the ballad side, there’s Cooper’s moving essay of Ellington’s “Come Sunday.”

New albums are rated on a scale of one asterisk (poor) to four (excellent). A rating of five asterisks is reserved for classic reissues or retrospectives.