By MICHAEL D. CLARK
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

To most Americans, the vast French music culture is something of a mystery.

To some, French music is the five tragic-romantic movements of composer Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, written in the 1830s and considered daring at the time for its orchestral progression.

Some might associate French music with Edith Piaf or Maurice Chevalier, two cabaret singers who defined World War II-era French radio in much the same way that Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee did on this side of the Atlantic.

Kids today, if they give it a thought at all, might think of French music as propulsive club beats and digital melodies by ensembles such as Daft Punk and Air.

French music is all of these things, but to describe it so simply would be the equivalent of a Parisian missing the progression that links George and Ira Gershwin, Bob Dylan and P. Diddy.

Each example represents a moment on a much longer timeline of how French compositions and styles have influenced both European and American tastes.

France is the spotlighted country at this year's Houston International Festival, which takes place downtown during the next two weekends. Locals will have a unique opportunity to hear both French music and its influence on the music of Louisiana and East Texas.

The festival's American Stage will be a Franco-American sampler, focusing on the Cajun music of southwest Louisiana, with such featured acts as Beausoleil and slide blues guitarist Sonny Landreth. Zydeco, the electric offshoot of accordion-based Cajun, will be represented with sets by Step Rideau and the Zydeco Outlaws, and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, to name a few.

Visas also have been stamped for a number of French artists representing a variety of styles. The best showcase will be on April 28, the final day of the festival, on the World Stage.

Bireli Lagrene, carrying on the jazz-influenced Gypsy-guitar style he learned from legend Django Reinhardt, is the most familiar name. Another act, Sergent Garcia, adds tropical fusion, salsa rhythms and island flavor to his Afro-Cuban and world-beat jazz.

But it is perhaps Paris Combo that best represents the multitude of French musical styles in one show. Blending traditional Parisian cabaret romance, Reinhardt-style guitar and traditional 1930s chanson with elements of modern jazz and even post-punk rock, the ensemble is an annotation of French music and its influences.

While it's perfectly legitimate that the Paris-based ensemble be dubbed Paris Combo, it's also a bit of a tongue-in-cheek joke and a commentary on modern French music. Many of the group's players and influences originated far from France.

"We are quite typical of Paris and the Paris music scene," says pianist, trumpet player and songwriter David Lewis. "Like a lot of French music, we are of quite diverse origins and ethnic makeups. We have all sorts of different backgrounds.

"It's what makes the music attractive."

Before becoming a member of Paris Combo in 1995, Lewis, an Australian, worked with a diverse range of talent. At one point he played with Manu Dibango -- a saxophonist from Cameroon and one of the leading living statesmen of African jazz -- while simultaneously holding down gigs with Arthur H., a Tom Waits-style world singer-songwriter.

"Manu is a wonderful stage presence. The way he works onstage is very flexible and keeps things alive," Lewis says. "Arthur H. lends a lot of freedom to his bands. These weren't just sidemen gigs. They offered me a lot of opportunity to write and experiment."

Look at the liner notes of Paris Combo's third album, Attraction (released in the United States earlier this week), and the songwriting credits denote a democratic system of band government. Nearly all the titles are listed as a group composing effort. That may have a lot to do with the intriguing culture clashes that can take place within one of the improvisations.

In addition to Lewis' world-music experience, Paris Combo offers guitarist Potzi, the offspring of South African parents and a student of the vagabond Gypsy guitar favored by Reinhardt and Lagrene. Bassist Mano Razanajato was born in Madagascar, and his beats and vocals can lend a layer of Malagasy spirituality. From France, there's drummer François François.

"Everybody contributes, and we try to arrange as a musical collective," Lewis says. "It's important that everybody can inject their own color."

The band's nucleus, however, is the traditional French saloon singing of native Parisian Belle du Berry. Her angular face is reminiscent of that of Audrey Tautou, the star of Jean Pierre Jeaunet's French-import film success Amelie.

Her voice is an anachronism from a more romantic period of French cabaret: the century-old Paris of artistry and unrequited love satirized in Moulin Rouge. She is a traditional French chanteuse with a modern love of punk and the B-52s.

The way du Berry binds the group's polyrhythms, improvisation and humor links Paris Combo to the edgiest of college music, as well as the chanson tradition.

"When people say le chanson, there's a certain quality to the lyrics and the music that is not pop," Lewis says. "Then again, there are some pop artists who now do chanson. Much like the American term 'songwriter,' the meaning has changed over time."

If anything, Paris Combo is providing a new structure for traditional music. Du Berry and François are Parisian, while other band members are nouveau-French, contributing to the evolution of the homegrown sound.

"There's no one sound to what we do. The pieces vary quite a lot," Lewis says. "Maybe some artists set out to consciously develop a sound. Ours just develops itself."