It’s hard to pin down the Jack Brass Band. Their 2007 album, Traditionally Speaking, was a fairly traditional New Orleans affair. The Minneapolis group’s new record, Fourth Movement, has them sounding at times more like a salsa combo. They strut through an unlikely song set, including covers of Michael Jackson, Rick James, and Bill Withers.

This is a genre in which it’s easy to repeat yourself. Many bands use half-hearted arrangements in which the instruments mostly just play in parallel, with very little differentiation of parts to create interest. Fourth Movement mostly avoids these pitfalls. There’s usually a lot going on, and Jack Brass Band shakes up its style impressively over the course of the record. The soloists, aside from the occasional off-note, are solid.

The Jacks are not afraid to venture into mellower territory, as they do beautifully in a luscious arrangement of the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination.” Other high points include Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” and an energetic rendition of Billy Preston’s “Nothing From Nothing.” The group has a knack for making their song selections fit neatly into the brass band idiom, and just when you think they’ve made up their minds, stylistically speaking, they close the album with a sultry, sax-heavy “Let’s Get It On.”

George Porter Jr. contributes effusive liner notes, and he’s not the only local luminary lending praise to the Jacks. Their long involvement with New Orleans and its music is readily apparent on this record. Brass band lovers looking for something fresh will not be disappointed.