The Miracle of Yma Y
MA SUMAC, ASWELL as having the dizzying gift of a five octave vocal range, loved constructing an
image of herself as an otherworldly Incan goddess. It could seem too much of a coincidence that her claimed birthplace was the Peruvian town of Cajamarca, the site of the battle, which ended the Incan Empire in 1532. But it does seem likely that it was within one of the Andes’ many enclaves that a young girl named Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri Del Castillo first discovered she had a rare voice indeed. Zoila would holler out ancient folk songs to the rocks, pretending the silent stones were her rapt audience. She didn’t have to wait long for a real crowd, as by the age of 13 her potential had been spotted and she was whisked away to begin her career in Argentina.
Zoila renamed herself Imma Sumack (a Native American name meaning “how beautiful”) and sung commercialised versions of traditional folk songs, eventually forming the Inka Taky Trio with her husband Moisés Vivanco. Imma’s break came in the late ’40s when the
trio were singing in New York, and a Capitol Records scout saw potential in the eye-catching lady with the ear-splitting octave range.
Thanks to a fascination with the exotic, and a very clever marketing strategy, Imma was renamed once again to Yma Sumac and a legend was born. She was purported to be a descendent of Peru’s final Incan emperor one week, and a Brooklyn housewife who switched her name around from Amy Camus the next. Her Capitol recording career began in 1950 with Voice Of The Xtabay and she released a series of albums, of which the fifth Mambo! from ’54 (available in expanded form on Rev-Ola) is a notable high point. Her records showcased both unusual Peruvian instruments and familiar lounge music elements.
But by the start of the ’70s, Yma Sumac was off popular culture’s radar. She had not recorded a full- length album since ’59 and was 50 years old. But despite, or maybe because of her time away from the recording world, Yma now felt the time was right to try and hook her freakishly brilliant vocals onto
In tribute to YMA SUMAC,who died on November 1st aged 86, JEANETTE LEECH salutes the fiery exotica diva and presents the story of Miracles, Yma’s experiment in psychedelic rock.
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