Pianist, arranger, bandleader Ralph Sharon wrote of Tony Bennett, "Steadfastly determined to always tread the musical path of honesty, sincerity, and devotion and truth to the music." This quote reads like a page pulled straight out of the Tony Messina songbook. Singer/songwriter, jazz/pop vocal ease balladeer Messina is a man of his song. With his heart pinned full on both sleeves, Messina lets you know with his soft finger-clicking delivery that there is an immediate personal truth and recognition behind each lyric. His impeccable phrasing, silky style, effortless authenticity and genuine immediacy gathers his audience in a sort of hushed reverie. He's made it there and back and so can we.

Messina who has shared stage with such luminaries as Lionel Hampton, Louie Bellson, Stan Kenton, and Alan Broadbent, brought his "Journey of Love" show to Pacifica with the blessings of many fans and friends throughout the world. President Clinton, Harrison Ford, Barbara Sinatra, and the Ambassador of Norway have made it clear with each sold out performance that Messina owns the crowd with each cascade of musical magic. His show covers an intimate collection of songs, several of which are original compositions, all of which highlight moments Messina holds dear. In the original piece entitled "Not every man lives" Messina notes that "every man dies, not every man lives." In every song chosen along Messina's incredible journey, his intention to live well and long are surpassed only by his intentions to love and to be loved. Not a bad mantra.

Often times is takes a little while for a cabaret performer to find his or her's intimacy with the audience. Like the audience, the performer has spent their day going about the task of daily living when suddenly it's show time. Lights dim, the crowd hushes its restlessness and it's all up to the singer to melt away our daily rituals. No easy task. Right from the start, Tony Messina delivered a nice little welcome from his own penned "It's A Loving World" onto Rodgers and Hart's "The Lady Is A Tramp," through Stephen Sondheim's "Sorry Grateful," Messina massaged our ears with a gentle little reminder that there is stardust all around us.

Tony Messina made the women in tonight's audience sigh sweetly over the singer's obvious appreciation of thoroughly romantic grown-up love. Once upon a time there came a Valentine of song, and his name was Tony Messina.

"What makes a song great?" asks Tony Messina in the liner notes to his new album, This Is What I Am. While it may be the great phrasing of Sinatra or the feeling of Fitzgerald and Horn, Messina posits that there are vital associations between music and lyrics, singer and music as well as a necessary element of magic which truly make the difference between tunes and songs. Therefore, Messina claims, one must have a further connection with the music in order to bring out the best it has to offer. Though some of the fifteen songs on the album have been done before, Messina's connections are as strong and moving as any...drawing from the past masters while adding a new warmth and excitement to these timeless pieces.

Most of the album consists of well-chosen and even better performed versions of the "great songs" of life. A tuneful adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba" (including a clever piano sampling of "The Summer Knows" mellows into the Gershwin's remorseful "Isn't It A Pity." A tempo-changing "Come Rain Or Come Shine" swings into a bouncy take on Van Morrison's romantic pleas "Moondance," "Fever," "Route 66," a deep and provocative narration of "Little Boy Lost" and a fiery jungle dance through Harold Arlen's "Old Black Magic" (complete with Sinatra-Dorsey-esque full swing code) take the listener through a gambit of emotions and styles. The only constant, it seems, is Messina's talent and care in each and every performance. Every note is considered yet free. Every song digs into the minds and hearts of Messina's audiences.

However, the true high points of this diverse and fulfilled album are Messina's own compositions. From the opening "Wonders Of The World"--a fresh cabaret-ish song about finding true, monumental love a bit later in life to the move-me-to-tears (yes, I admit it) title track of heartfelt lyrics wrapped in Messina's deep, souled voice and the more up (though no less meaningful) "It's A Loving World," Messina proves his talent on both sides of the staff.

I must admit that when I first wrote this review, I neglected to mention Tony's support team. Though the squeakless wheels don't get much attention, they deserve the most appreciation. Therefore the band definitely deserves a tip o' the hat of their own drummer Pete Giannosa and bassists Hal Cragin and Andrew Hall lay down a subtle but vital rhythm line accented by pianist Andy Hollander's well-tempoed clavier. Though the musician's act as base for Tony's leaping and earthy story-telling, these selections would not be nearly as good a cappella, despite Messina's ample and abundant vocal capabilities.

Messina's lyrics are reminiscent of other masters of "The Great American Songbook"--from Mel and Michael to Manilow and Mathis. Still, Messina adds a freshness and energy often lost and laid stale in these great old standards. Though the term "classic" may be bandied about a bit too freely these days--describing everything from colas to computers to contemporary music--there seem to be certain elements which make a given thing truly "classic." In trying to find this elusive aspect, Tony Messina has done his best to keep these old torches burning bright while adding new sparks to the embers. With a respectful nod to those who made these songs great, Messina seems able to find the songs' inner secrets and build on them. In so doing, Messina has added his own fuel to the eternal flame of the "great songs" of our proud musical canon.