Frank has worked with various musicians. See Bio for more details.
Influences
LITERARY: William Blake, Walt Whitman, Dante Alighieri, Gil Scott-Heron, Sonia Sanchez, Kahlil Gibran, Alan Dugan, David Ignatow, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, William Wordsworth
MUSICAL: Miles Davis, John Cage, Paul Winter, Jaco Pastorius, JS Bach, Freddie Hubbard, Johnny Cash, David Amram.
PERSONAL: Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Thomas Aquinas, Frank Messina Sr, Keith Hernandez, The New York Mets.
Sounds Like
Pan-American soundscape of jazz, experimental rock music and poetry.
"Frank Messina is one of the most widely recognized young poets living in America today."(Playboy Magazine) He's also known by baseball fans as the "Mets Poet".
He's been an integral figure on the international Spoken Word circuit since the late 1980's. His work has been published in several journals, books, newspapers and periodicals including The New York Times, The Record, Sports Illustrated, Calgary Herald, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Oxford Magazine, Playboy Magazine and the Paterson Literary Review.
Frank first gained notoriety as the founder of the underground band, Spoken Motion, whose signature ability to fuse bold, lyrical content with eclectic jazz and experimental rock music helped catapult the fledgling 'Spoken Word' genre of the 1990's to commercial success. Author of the acclaimed books, Full Count: The Book of Mets Poetry, and Disorderly Conduct, Frank's work tackles subjects relating to human nature including themes of love, struggle, war, civic responsibility and sports fanaticism.
Frank has appeared on NPR and the BBC, SNY-TV, WBAI, WSPN and WKCR's Jazz Profiles. His work is the subject of four documentaries and television programs, including Freedom: A Poem for America and SportsNet New York's Mets Weekly, where Messina's Mets-mania verse is set to the visual backdrop of some of the greatest moments (and not so great) in New York Mets baseball history. As a result, baseball fans around the world refer to Frank as "The Mets Poet". His Mets-related baseball poems have seeped into the realm of pop culture, being the subject of debate, commentary and chagrin on such programs as The Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS's The Early Show.
Frank is a recipient of the Woolrich Poetry Award and Fellowship of Columbia University and was nominated for the 1995 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award. Frank has recorded over 100 spoken word & music compositions including works from Walking Home (2007), The Long Road to Nowheresville (2004), Absorb (1999), Rage (1999) and Biting the Tongue (1998).
Blending the genres of Spoken Word, Jazz and Rock music, Frank Messina founded the eclectic spoken word and music group, Spoken Motion in 1993. Regarded as a prolific 'jam band' with roots in Jazz and experimental Rock music, the band featured percussionist Larry McDonald of Gil Scott-Heron's Amnesia Express, Elliott Levin of Cecil Taylor's Phthongas on sax and flute, Bob Susko on guitar, Wes Jensen on drums and bassist Joe Isgro.
Frank Messina & Spoken Motion's album, Biting the Tongue, includes special guest appearances by the legendary composer David Amram, jazz violinist Billy Bang of the Sun Ra Arkestra and Scott Murawski and Mark Mercier of Max Creek. The album made the Top 20 Spoken Word Chart immediately after its July, '98 release date and remained for 16 weeks. In addition, track 1 from the album, I Want to Hear Poetry, is included on the 1998 College Radio's Best of The Indies compilation CD. The same track hit 1 on the mp3.com Spoken Word Charts in April, 1999.
He also founded the all-star "Spoke n' Roll" band, OCTOPOET, in 1999. The experimental group has featured members of the Spin Doctors, Max Creek, Sun Ra, Gil Scott-Heron Band and Spoken Motion plus Mark Egan, saxophonist Erik Lawrence and vocalists Lucy Woodward, Dawn Lorentz and Chanda Rule.
Frank Messina has performed in thirty-two countries and forty states at notable venues such as Newark Symphony Hall, Madison Square Garden, The London International Poetry and Song Festival, The Louisville Center for the Arts, Hofstra University's Spiegel Theatre, Crossing Border Festival in the Netherlands, Bowery Poetry Club, Meer Dan Woorden Festival, Lollapalooza Festival, Woodstock ..94, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, The Knitting Factory, Nuyorican Poets' Cafe', Howlin' Wolf Club in New Orleans and several in-store performances at Tower Records and Borders Books and Music. Frank has also performed in Dublin, Ireland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Berlin, Germany; Reykjavik, Iceland; Newcastle on Tyne, UK; Edinburgh, Scotland; Prague, Czechoslovakia among other cities.
Frank Messina has shared the stage with David Amram, Reg E. Gaines, Mark Egan, Buddy Cage, The Spin Doctors, Angus Calder, Billy Bang, Miguel Algarin, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Leo Kottke, Max Creek, Vince Welnick and Tom Constanten (Grateful Dead), Stir Fried, Lucy Woodward, Melvin Seals, Mike Gordon (Phish), Leo Nocentelli (The Meters), Allen Ginsberg, Merle Saunders, Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Bernie Worrell, Gil Scott-Heron, Melvin Sparks, The Last Poets, Moe, Jeff Pevar, Hal Sirowitz, Courtney Love, Ron Whitehead, Arnie Lawrence, Erik Lawrence, Vic Juris, John S. Hall, Paul Winter, Buzzy Linhart, Sonny Sharrock and many others. Frank has appeared in several feature films including Big Kahuna with Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito, The Hurricane, Freedom: A Poem for America and Shampoo Horns.
Frank Messina is also a prolific painter, known to include shredded poems, pharmaceuticals and poppy seeds in his large, dramatic canvas works. As a burgeoning artist with an illustrious past, his paintings hang in the private collections of jazz musicians, writers, governors, ex-girlfriends and fashion models around the world.
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"A treasure chest of the written word. A master work from a brilliant poet."
- Mark Healey, Baseball Digest
"Manly odes, autobiographical fragments, whimsical descriptions of crazy fans, concessionaires who fill out the tapestry that is American big-league sports."
You were in my dreams last night! Wierd You don't have camp Creek listed on your dates Think you should do something about that! Hope your well. Havent seen you perform in quite a while Jonesin........come to boston!
Just wanted to proclaim for all the world to hear how awesome you are Frank!! Your kindness and generosity are much appreciated and I'm so looking forward to Wednesday. I promise you we'll try to root just as enthusiastically as the one and only Met's Poet!
