Album Review: Becoming Marlene Dietrich from Myriam Phiro

Album:  Becoming Marlene Dietrich
Artist:  Myriam Phiro
Label:  Self-Released
Website:  www.myriamphiro.com

Smooth jazz vocalist Myriam Phiro introduces a new generation of music listeners to jazz standards that made Marlene Dietrich famous in her time from the 1920's to 1940's with Phiro's new release Becoming Marlene Dietrich.  Although Phiro immerses herself in melodies that had been Dietrich's trademark tunes, Phiro tailors the songs to her likeness.  Her illustrious mezzo-soprano register is higher on the vocal spectrum than Dietrich's contralto pitch, which stamps the tracks with her own unique nuances and inflections.  Her treatment of the verses is finessed with a distinctly soft, feminine touch and a delightfully, hypnotic resonance, setting her style apart from Dietrich's.

Her vocals cradle the lyrics of "Quand L’Amour Meurt," written by Georges Crémieux and Octave Millandy, with a warmth that penetrates the listener's soul as Hyuna Park's keys silhouette her voice in delicate flutters.  Phiro's rendition of "Jonny, Wenn Du Geburtstag Hast," by Friedrich Hollaender, demonstrates her distinctly soft touch applied to a rhythmic pattern driven by a military march.  Another of Hollaender's gems, "The Boys In The Back Room," co-written with Frank Loesser, highlights the bright luster of Phiro's vocals, as she jubilantly saunters across the march-like cadence.

The moonlight glow of Phiro's vocals is encircled by Park's angelic strokes along "Falling In Love Again."  Penned by Friedrich Hollaender and Reginald Connelly, Phiro's voicing is expressive and soulful as she reflects, "Love's always been my game / Play it how I may / I was made that way / I can't help it... Falling in love again / Never wanted to / What am I to do? / I just can't help it."  

The rhumba tempo of "Makin’ Whoopee," composed by Walter Donaldson and Gus Khan, brings out a refined quality in Phiro's timbres, luring her audience with the amorous effect of her singing.  Her interpretation of Louiguy and Edith Piaf's timeless melody "La Vie En Rose" is treated with a regal reverence as she tenderly swirls the listener around the lyrics in her delivery, making this an engrossing experience.  Linus Wyrsch's clarinet etches gentle tremors along "Golden Earrings" as Phiro's vocals shimmy and sway in a sensuous rhythm.

Becoming Marlene Dietrich is Phiro's third release, paying homage to Marlene Dietrich’s legacy as a penetrative vocalist.  Phiro's release shows that she is a penetrative vocalist in her own right.  Myriam Phiro is an internationally-recognized French-Canadian

 performer, band leader, and cabaret chanteuse who has performed on stages and in theaters worldwide.  A practitioner of swing, cabaret, smooth jazz, and blues, Phiro hones traditional jazz vocals for a new generation of music listeners to enjoy.

Musicians:
Myriam Phiro - vocals
Hyuna Park - piano, accordion, music direction & arranging
Elias Bailey - upright bass & production
Alex Raderman - drums
Linus Wyrsch - tenor saxophone & clarinet