The Ultimate Yma Sumac Collection

The veil of mystery surrounding her and the operatic beauty of her voice made Yma a phenomenon in the '50s-and again during the '90s exotica revival. Here are 21 of her best: Xtaby; Suray Surita; Taki Rari; La Molina; Bo Mambo; Kuyawa; Wimoweh , and more including unissued tracks!

In 1950, at the dawn of an era of musical exotica (in which composers such as Esquivel, Martin Denny, and Les Baxter would test the limits of hi-fi strangeness), Yma Sumac entered the scene. She was a diva from the Andes with a four-vocal octave range, an unrelenting trill, and great looks, and she became an overnight sensation. Within years of her debut LP, Voice of the Xtabay, Sumac recorded more concept albums, starred in a Broadway musical (Flahooley), and appeared onscreen with Charlton Heston in 1954's Secret of the Incas. Truth be told, exotica music's popularity was short-lived (only to resurface again with the '90s lounge culture), and many would claim Yma Sumac was merely American housewife Amy Camus spelling her name backwards. No matter. This is still great, hilarious music unlike any other. With composer-husband Moises Vivanco, Sumac created a hybrid jazz, mambo, and world music that was the perfect showpiece for her vocal pyrotechnics. She scats, she trills, she bellows, but--mostly--she entertains. This disc collects Sumac's very best works, three unreleased tracks (worth hearing for the opening to "Negrito Filomino"), and extensive liner notes. --Jason Verlinde