Originally strung together by the love of swing, the Paris Combo has grown to become the essence of its members' multi-culti backgrounds and musical influences, resulting in a universally appealing sound.

Led by Parisian chanteuse Belle du Berry, the five-piece combo formed about a decade ago with 1930s and '40s era jangly jazz as the binding glue. Du Berry's lyrical musings about life are set in everyday places -- at dinner, in the living room, under the sheets -- but written with a Surrealist's pen.

In the bossa nova-like "Aquarium" on the group's recent album "Motifs" (Koch Recordings), du Berry imagines being a fish in an unfurnished apartment, a critique on those who live life only by watching TV. The circus-tinged "Aleas" has her turning into a fork scraping an empty plate, a commentary about the purposelessness of passivity.

"It's fairly typical of her writing," says Melbourne-born multi-instrumentalist David Lewis, 45, who, as the native English speaker in the group, translates the lyrics. "It's a mix of seriousness and irony and free associations in her observations."

Matched with the up-close sensibility of a classic cabaret act, du Berry's malleable soprano bends with the group's twists and turns from North African- and Latin-laced chanson pop to American swing to smoky Django Reindhardt-esque guitar-driven jazz.

"We're all instrumentalists and improvisationalists, and we do quite a bit of it on the album," says Lewis, who performs with the Combo at Joe's Pub at 8:10 p.m. Saturday. "We stretch that out in the live show."

Guitarist Potzi was weaned on Reinhardt's gypsy jazz and the Arabic music of his Algerian parents; Madagascar-born bassist and singer Mano Razanajato brings a Latin sense to his style; pianist and trumpeter Lewis started in classical music and moved to jazz, and French drummer François Jeannin has added to the fold his recent interests in New Orleans jazz and electronica.

"Paris is a very cosmopolitan city with its own particular mix of influences," Lewis says. "In a sense we reflect that in the way we incorporate each person's input."

-- Enrique Lavin