Yma Sumac - Voice of the Andes
Born:
September 13, 1922;
Inchocan, Peru
Died:
November 1, 2008;
Los Angeles, CA
Yma Sumac occupies a special place in the history of Exotica music. Although she recorded just five major albums, the low and high extremes of her voice conjured what others could only create with instruments and sound effects.
Such was the stunning range of her voice, often reaching five octaves, that Sumac quickly became a legend in her own lifetime.
Born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri Del Castillo in the Peruvian mountain community of Inchocan, Yma Sumac could be seen practicing folk songs at age 9 atop the Andes mountains, incorporating the high-pitched singing of birds into her voice.
By age 13, she was performing on radio in Argentina, and in 1943, recorded 16 songs there.
Conductor Moises Vivianco took notice of her astonishing talent,and together they went on tours throughout South America with dancer Cholito Rivero, where they were known as The Inka Taky Trio. In 1947, Sumac and Vivianco married and moved to New York City, where she sang with his combo, Conjunto Folklorico Peruano.
It wasn’t long before Americans took notice just as quickly as her own countrymen: In 1950, she was contracted to Capitol Records, where she made her first album, Voice of the Xtabay.
Produced with Les Baxter, the album was a recording of Peruvian folk tunes, now accompanied by lush and sweeping orchestration. Without any major publicity, the album was a success, selling 100,000 copies.
The next year, she appeared in the Broadway musical Flahooley, and with her exotic looks, stunning voice and fiery stage presence, won the crowd over.
Other studio albums followed throughout the 50s, Legend of the Sun Virgin, Inca Tacqui, Mambo!, Legend of the Jivaro, and Fuego Del Ande.
More popular than ever, in 1961 Sumac and The Inka Taky Trio went on a five-year world tour across Europe, Asia and Latin America—even the Soviet Union (for six months!), where audiences couldn’t get enough. A live recording of her concert in Bucharest, Romania was made, Recital.
In 1965, Sumac and Moises Vivianco separated, and over the next 20 years she would perform much more sporadically. In the mid-80s she reemerged to make major appearances at the Ballroom in New York, The David Letterman Show and tour some cities in the U.S. and Europe.
Spurred by Exotica’s revival, Sumac would go on to perform well into the late 90s in Hollywood, San Francisco, and at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1997.
In May 2006, the Peruvian government recognized her lifetime of achievement, awarding her the Orden Del Sol of Peru—a fitting capstone for one of Exotica’s greats.
