Sad news (as the lovely Rupert Smith informed me today) - the most extraordinary diva of them all Yma Sumac is dead.
Yma Sumac was always shrouded in mystery. She claimed to be a direct descendant of Atahualpa, Peru's last Incan emperor, and changed her name from Imma Sumack to the more exotic Yma Sumac to go along with the myth that was being created around her. Her career began in South America as a part of something called "The Inka Taky Trio", with her then husband, bandleader Moises Vivanco, but once they moved to New York the lady's enigmatic talents were soon snapped up. Indeed Yma Sumac's first album Voice of the Xtabay in 1950 sold over 100,000 copies, and a legend was born.
Famed for her five octave vocal range, Yma Sumac certainly appeared to use every octave to its fullest - and sometimes it seems she does so in every song! Quite rightly lauded for these incredible talents, she went on to become an international sensation, thrilling audiences in not just the US but Russia and Western Europe too.
I have three of her five major albums in my collection - courtesy of our friend Alistair, who introduced me to this particular diva few years back. She was experiencing at the time a bit of a revival due to the 90s fad for "lounge" music, but nothing quite prepared me for the full gamut of whoops, coloratura and Grace Jones-level alto and below that she could perform...
I was honestly unaware what actually happened to her - whether she was dead or alive - until Rupert's news. A sad loss - there will never be another!
This is a marvellous recording of Yma Sumac at her very best:
And this is possibly my favourite song of hers:
On this one, as our friend Alistair commented, she does rather look like part of a sketch by Stanley Baxter:
To finish, here's another clip of the lady, with some rare footage of Yma in her later years:
Rupert Smith on Yma Sumac
Yma Sumac obituary in the LA Times
Yma Sumac website
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