NEW RELEASES / JAZZ : In Brief

*** 1/2 Don Braden, “Wish List,” Criss Cross. The tenor saxophonist, who has played with Wynton Marsalis and Tony Williams, is one fine composer and arranger. Even if he hadn’t hired some of the cream of today’s jazz crop--Tom Harrell (trumpet), Benny Green (piano), Steve Turre (trombone) and Christian McBride (bass)--this album of originals and just-so arranged standards and jazz classics would still sound superb. A bubbling hold-back rhythm keeps “Father Time” popping along, and “Just the Facts” is a firebrand blues. The leader’s tone--bright and beaming--is the first thing you notice about his playing, but soon his surging lines demand attention. Harrell’s squiggly yet driving ideas are always riveting, and Green really opens up here and stretches out. New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good, recommended), four stars (excellent).