Yma Súmac

Yma Súmac Born In Callao El Callao Perú September 13 1922 Also Earlier Spelled Ymma Sumak From Ima Shumaq Quechua For "how Beautiful!" Or Imma Sumack Is A Noted Vocalist Of Peruvian Origin. In The 1950s She Was One Of The Most Famous Proponents Of Exotica Music And Became An International Success Based On The Merits Of Her Wide-Ranging Voice Which Ranges "well Over Three Octaves" And Was Commonly Claimed To Span Four And Five Yma Súmac Was Born On September 13 1922 In Callao El Callao As Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri Del Castillo. Other Dates Mentioned In Her Various Biographies Range From 1921 To 1929 . Some Sources Claim That She Was Not Born In Ichocán But In A Nearby Village Or Possibly In Lima And That Her Family Owned A Ranch In Ichocán Where She Spent Most Of Her Early Life. It Is Also Claimed That She Is An Incan Princess Directly Descended From Atahualpa. The Story That She Was Actually Born Amy Camus Yma Sumac Read Backwards In Brooklyn Or Canada Is A Hoax. This Reference Asserts That She Was Known As Imma Sumack In Recordings Made Before She Went To The U.S. Capitol Records Changed The Spelling To The More Exotic "Yma Sumac". For A Few Months In And Around Capitol Records Headquarters It Was Rumored That Yma Sumac Was Actually A Woman Named Amy Camus Who Worked In The Accounting Department But That Was Eventually Disproved By Amy Herself In Her Famous "I Can't Even Sing" Memo Of August 1951. She First Appeared On Radio In 1942 And Married Composer And Bandleader Moisés Vivanco On June 6 The Same Year. Using The Stage Name Imma Sumack She Recorded At Least Eighteen Tracks Of Peruvian Folk Songs In Argentina In 1943 . These Early Recordings For The Odeon Label Featured Moisés Vivanco's Group Compañía Peruana De Arte — A Group Of 46 Indian Dancers Singers And Musicians. In 1946 Yma Sumac And Vivanco Moved To New York City Where She Performed With The Inca Taky Trio With Moisés Vivanco On Guitar Yma Sumac's Cousin Cholita Rivero Singing Contralto And Dancing And Yma Sumac Providing The Soprano Until Being Signed By Capitol Records In 1950. During The 1950s She Produced A Series Of Legendary Lounge Recordings Featuring Hollywood-Style Versions Of Incan And South American Folk Songs Working With The Likes Of Les Baxter And Billy May. In 1951 She Popularized Jorge Bravo De Rueda's Classic Song "Vírgenes Del Sol". The Combination Of Her Extraordinary Voice Exotic Looks And Stage Personality Made Her A Hit With American Audiences. Sumac Even Appeared In A Broadway Musical Flahooley In 1951 As A Foreign Princess Who Brings Aladdin's Lamp To An American Toy Factory To Have It Repaired. The Show's Score Was By Sammy Fain And E.Y. "Yip" Harburg But Sumac's Four Numbers Were The Work Of Vivanco. Capitol Records Sumac's Home Label Recorded The Show Which Failed But Has Lived On As A Cult Classic In Part Because It Also Marked The Broadway Debut Of Barbara Cook. During The Height Of Sumac's Popularity She Appeared In The Films Secret Of The Incas 1954 And Omar Khayyam 1957 She Became A U.S. Citizen July 22 1955. In 1957 She And Vivanco Divorced. They Remarried That Same Year Before Divorcing Again In 1965 . They Had One Son Charles Born In 1949 . Apparently Due To Financial Difficulties Yma Sumac And The Original Inca Taky Trio Went On A World Tour In 1961 Which Lasted For Five Years. They Performed In 40 Cities In The Soviet Union And Afterwards All Over Europe Asia And Latin America. Their Performance In Bucharest Romania Was Recorded As The Album Recital Her Only 'live In Concert' Record. Yma Sumac Spent The Rest Of The 1960s Performing Sporadically. In 1971 She Released A Rock Album Called Miracles And Then Returned To Live In Peru. She Performed In Concert From Time To Time During The 1970s In Peru And Later In New York. In The 1980s She Had A Number Of Concerts Both In The U.S. And Abroad Including At New York's The Ballroom In 1987 And Several San Francisco Shows At The Theatre On The Square Among Others. In 1987 She Also Recorded The Song "I Wonder" From The Disney Film Sleeping Beauty For Stay Awake An Album Of Songs From Disney Movies Produced By Hal Willner. She Sang Ataypura During A March 19 1987 Appearance On Late Night With David Letterman Appearing Alongside Actor-Comedians Jerry Seinfeld And Bill Murray. In 1989 She Sang Once Again At The Ballroom In New York. In March 1990 She Played The Role Of Heidi In Stephen Sondheim's Follies In Long Beach California — Her First Attempt At 'serious Theater' Since Flahooley In 1951. She Also Did Several Concerts In The Summer Of 1996 In San Francisco And Hollywood And Two More In Montreal Canada In July 1997 As Part Of The Montreal International Jazz Festival. She Currently Lives In Los Angeles. In 1992 Günther Czernetsky Directed A Documentary Titled Yma Sumac - Hollywoods Inkaprinzessin Yma Sumac - Hollywood's Inca Princess . On May 2 2006 Sumac Flew To Lima Where She Was Given The "Orden Del Sol" Award By Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo And The Jorge Basadre Medal By The Universidad Nacional Mayor De San Marcos. read less