YMA SUMAC R.I.P.

Peruvian singer Yma Sumac - the queen of Mambo and one of the most incredible voices ever - died two weeks ago at age 86. The South American Castafiore was born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri Del Castillo, Sumac said she never received formal vocal training. But her talent had been apparent since she was a little girl and began performing in Peru and later in Argentina. In the early 1950s, while performing in New York, she was signed to Capitol Records. Sumac quickly drew world attention, thanks to a prodigious voice that spanned a five-octave range, and her renditions of traditional Peruvian music with orchestral accompaniments. The singer played heavily on her Andean roots, claiming to be descended from the Inca Emperor Atahualpa. In Peru, glowing press tributes have been paid to the only Peruvian to have been written into Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Check her essential album "Mambo" - rough and ragged Mambo - this is South American punk rock 1954!