Bay Area crooner Jonathan Poretz grew up listening to songs from the great American songbook.

Now, as an adult, he fronts a quartet of first-rate jazz musicians dedicated to reacquainting audiences with standards from both Great White Way and Tin Pan Alley, delivered with infectious swing and heartfelt sincerity.

As long as there are clubs dedicated to presenting great jazz (they are a disappearing genre) and singers who relish composers with names like Berlin, Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and Hart, I’m confident we’ll have entertainers like Poretz, singers with talent to spare.

Poretz appeared last Saturday as part of the current lineup in the Ledson Hotel’s Harmony Lounge series co-sponsored by Sonoma Jazz +, the organization that presents the Memorial Day weekend jazz festival each year.

The Ledson family’s decision to open the boutique hotel’s lounge to jazz performances is as welcome as a cooling breeze on a sultry summer night. It’s an intimate venue on the square in Sonoma with space for only five dozen music lovers starved for live music. It’s not only comfortable but it allows the audience a rare opportunity to get up close with performers. Nibbles, cocktails and excellent wines are served by an agreeable, attentive staff, making the whole experience of a night on the town certainly worth the effort. And, with a $25 cover, the price is right.

Sporting a welcoming smile and possessing a warm, strong voice, Poretz and three chums served up a delightful 75-minute show early Saturday evening and planned to charm another audience with a second set an hour or so later.

Pianist Lee Bloom knows what Poretz wants and delivers in spades. His arrangements inject new life into time-honored classics, with a crack rhythm section — bassist Jeff Neighbor and drummer Kent Bryson — tying it all together with welcome jazzy bow.

Poretz isn’t afraid of comparisons. After all, he does portray Ol’ Blue Eyes in the show, “Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean (The Rat Pack),” that’s been packin’ ’em in around the country. He wades right in, in fact, tossing off a delightful bass-centric rendition of Sinatra’s classic, “I’ve Got the World on a String.”

Some say he reminds them of Bobby Darin. Poretz sides with them when, for an encore, he offers a marvelous, swinging rendition of “Mack the Knife.” Honestly, I liked his version more than Darin’s — or at least the Darin version that memory recalls.

At times, this listener felt comparisons to jazz singer Mel Torme and Don Cornell, a big band singer who scored a string of hits during the 1950s and early 1960s, were in order — particularly with the soulful interpretation of Johnny Mandel’s “Shadow of Your Smile” and the haunting lyric and melody of Jimmy Dorsey’s “I’m Glad There Is You.”

His big band approach to a memorable song from Broadway’s “Bye Bye Birdie,” “A Lot of Livin’ To Do,” is a definite crowd pleaser. And on the blues tune made famous by Billie Holiday, “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You,” bassist Neighbor bowed his way right into our hearts.

Piano man Joe Bushkin’s song, “Oh Look at Me Now,” brought back memories of Sinatra during the Dorsey days. This was a superb swinger ideally suited to Poretz’ vocal talents.

Poretz has a relatively new compact disc, “A Lot of Livin’ To Do,” on retail shelves and online at present. It’s sure to be a worthwhile addition to the collections of all who enjoy the great American songbook.

Three more shows are scheduled on the current Harmony Lounge lineup: The Quartet of the Hot Club of San Francisco celebrating the music of Django Reinhardt on Oct. 6, saxophonist Dave Ellis and his Quartet on Oct. 20 and Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors on Nov. 3. For reservations at either the 6:30 or 9 p.m. shows, call 996-9779 or log onto www.ledsonhotel.com.