Undercovers

"We manage to sneak some humorous covers in, even if people rarely notice," says Paper Moon guitarist Daniel Dever. "The theme from Borat works great in a Gypsy jazz format, and nobody in the crowd has picked up on it yet. I'm also working out a fingerstyle acoustic version of the Family Guy theme, and [in concert] I give out a free CD to the first person who calls out what it is.

"We do a light-jazz version of 'Message in a Bottle' by the Police," says the German-born Dever. "We started a cover of Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' arranged for swing guitar, and it was pretty funny from our standpoint, but it didn't really work as a performance piece. I arranged a version of 'Believe It or Not (Walking on Air),' the theme from the Greatest American Hero TV show, and that didn't go over at all."

Paper Moon recently landed a weekly gig at the U.S. Grant hotel.