Putumayo Records is a marketing outfit of singular genius. They could sell refrigerators to Eskimos, and with the way the world’s going, the Eskimos may end up thanking them in a couple of years. Putumayo has made a thriving business out of licensing readily available material under a genre-based label, wrapping it in its trademark art work and selling it to the coffee table consumer. The work is always family-friendly, never offensive, the kind of thing you can put on the CD changer at the next social gathering at your suburban McMansion without worrying. When you’re dealing with ethnic and street music like so much of the Putumayo catalogue does, such filters are invaluable.

Most importantly, of course, the music is always tasteful, so the consumer may be assured he or she is never guilty of playing something less than excellent.

New Orleans Brass is in the exemplary tradition of Putumayo product, and at a time when the city needs to satisfy while not offending the rich tourists it needs to survive, such a package is a welcome thing. Not only that, Putumayo is generously donating a portion of the proceeds from this album directly to musicians and the non-profits that are helping them. The collection also stops in at some delightfully quaint local spots and thanks to the detailed annotation, may even lead the curious listener in some useful directions.

James and Troy Andrews open up with a spirited “Bourbon Street Parade,” and while they are playing brass instruments, this is not a brass band performance (despite the illustration of a brass band on the cover). Nor is the Preservation Hall Hot 4’s nifty take on “Dinah,” Troy Andrews’ nostalgic rendition of “Dreamboat” or the Yockamo All-Stars’ “Blow, Blow Tenor,” although it does point listeners toward their little-known but excellent Dew Drop Out album. Cover art aside, the organizational umbrella seems to simply be songs with horns.

Fortunately the wonderful trumpeter Leroy Jones comes along with an actual brass band performance of “Whoopin’ Blues.” Fans of the polite French Quarter hotel street parade will be delighted by Kermit Ruffins’ performance of “Treme Second Line (Blow Da Whistle)” and Bob French jollying his way through “St. James Infirmary Blues,” a song everyone should hear at least once. The Dukes of Dixieland deliver a strong version of the old New Orleans warhorse “Saints” and Glen David Andrews and the Lazy Six sound positively radical in this context on “Over in the Gloryland.”

This collection differs from most Putumayo releases in that there’s something new on it, a terrific version of “I’ll Fly Away” sung beautifully by John Boutte and backed by an impressive band playing collective improvisation with the true second line spirit. It’s a great track, but it’s a little disappointing to search through the accompanying 34-page booklet and find no documentation of who the players are.