Yma Sumac

Yma Sumac: The Art Behind the Legend
$29.95
Mr. Limansky has done a tremendous amount of research on the evasive Yma Sumac, to put together this outstanding biography. His book is certainly not a whitewashed account, & permits the reader to gain good insight into Ms. Sumac's personality & the background to many of her recordings. Loaded with rare photos, many candid. Considering Mr. Limanky's vast knowledge of Ms. Sumac & her recordings, & his highly insightful comments, I cannot imagine that a better biography of her will ever be written. My only complaint (& it is minor compared with the strong points of this book) is that the wonderful photos are often small & that the (non-glossy) paper of the book doesn't permit sharper reproductions. Fortunately, the photos in the book are available on a separate CD (for additional cost), along with additional material, which I'll be ordering.

Mambo
$9.93
My grandfather, "Grandpa Joe" (1906-1981) was a classical music fan, and I remember many times being at his house as a child and sitting through entire symphonies, string quartets, violin sonatas, etc. I didn't really have the attention span for long classical pieces, but I idolized Grandpa Joe and didn't want to displease him. I was a record collector even then, and the first thing I ever did when my parents took me anywhere was to rifle through the record collection of whoever's house I was in. Grandpa Joe had a Capitol "Full Dimensional Sound" demonstration record (monaural, of course). One entire side was classical (and I can only assume that he got it for free and only played the classical side). The other side had selections from Capitol's "popular" albums of the day. The first track on the "popular" side was Yma Sumac's "Bo Mambo". I was ten years old when I first set the Pickering stylus of Grandpa Joe's Rek-O-Kut "Rondine" down on "Bo Mambo". Holy CRAP, what was THIS???... I played it again and again. This was phenomenal music...I had never heard anything like it in my entire decade on earth. A few days later, I hopped on my Schwinn Speedster and raced over to my local record store and special-ordered "Mambo!" by Yma Sumac. It took about three weeks to get it...an endless wait. Every track on that album was a fabulous adventure. This was "world fusion" music decades before it was fashionable. Her singing is unique and incredible; Billy May's arrangements are out-of-this-world; the musicianship is virtuosic and flawless. It has now been over 40 years since I first heard "Mambo!" and I have played it for countless friends and acquaintances over the years; most of them loved it enough to buy their own copy. "Mambo!" is one of the very few albums that has been in print for over 50 years, and there is a good reason. No one has ever made a record like "Mambo!" before or since.

The Apple
$14.98
A bizarre, fascinating time capsule. Only could have been made in 1980 along with Roller Boogie, Can't Stop the Music, and Xanadu. Saw this on cable in '81 and rejoiced when it was finally released in its original aspect ratio. Very sketchy narratively, but the music is actually very memorable, especially the racy "Coming For You" number. I demand a CD or iTunes release immediately!

The Ultimate Yma Sumac Collection
$8.94
We took an extraordinary trip to Peru last year, and I did a great deal of reading and other research about that complex and fascinating country. I knew a tiny bit about Yma Sumac through "The New York Times Crossword Puzzle", of course; all three of those letters (and sometimes all eight) are worth their weight in gold to constructors in a tight spot.

By chance, I learned that Sumac was from Peru, and was lucky enough to find a copy of this CD. Her voice was amazing -- an extraordinarily wide vocal range of more than four octaves, from a low baritone to above the range of an ordinary soprano. Both low and high extremes can be heard on this album in "Chuncho" (The Forest Creatures) (1999 Digital Remaster), and the song can also be down loaded alone as an MP3.

This collection has excellent fidelity, and many of the songs have deep roots in Peru and especially in the Andes. It is a great introduction to the "Peruvian Songbird", who died today.

Robert C. Ross 2008