How Myron’s became of one of Las Vegas’ best music rooms
Updated March 14, 2022 - 7:36 am
The sound in the room is like musical velvet.
Far less smooth? Making it so.
“Some of my most difficult conversations with the design team early on had to do with Cabaret Jazz,” acknowledges Myron Martin, speaking about creation of the most intimate venue in The Smith Center, “because I envisioned an extraordinary room for music with perfect acoustics.”
“I had my whole vision for it,” he continues, “and early on, the design team was kind of picturing something not unlike a medium-sized hotel ballroom. I had some tough conversations about it, because we’ve got plenty of those spaces in Las Vegas. I wanted a music room.”
And a music room he’d get (so much so that it would be rechristened Myron’s in July 2021).
The idea: to create a cozy, 230-seat space featuring largely — but exclusively — jazz-based performers in a space that emphasized acoustics above all else.
“The sound is unbeatable in this city,” says singer Frankie Moreno, who’s played The Smith Center more than any other performer, including 100 sold-out shows at Myron’s.
For someone like Moreno, who tours nationally and was coming off a big production show at The Strat when he first hit the stage at Myron’s, playing there is a way to home in on his performance.
“At first, I was a little worried that I was not delivering enough,” he says of his debut in the room, “ ’cause I just came off this whole big thing with videos and everything, and it was like, ‘Oh, I can just play music and be an artist.’ ”
During one 10-week run of shows at Myron’s four years ago, Moreno made new songs for every single performance, penning 100 tunes in three months, a remarkable feat that resulted in a slew of No. 1 records for the singer-songwriter for singles such as “Everything” and “Disguise,” both of which topped the iTunes blues charts.
“We ultimately took those songs and recorded them, made records that have gone on to become gold records for us now, but I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do that if I didn’t have a venue that allowed me to do hat,” Moreno explains. “That changed my game. That led to a big change in my career for getting hit records.
“I owe that to The Smith Center,” he continues. “It’s the perfect venue to have complete artistic freedom. They nailed what they set out to do.”