She is no longer physically with us, but Yma Sumac will again be present in Southern California through the unveiling of a bust, a film projection and a concert.
will again be present in Southern California through the unveiling of a bust, a film projection and a concert.
Although he was born in Lima, Espinoza Grajeda spent several years in the ancient “imperial city” of Cuzco, Peru, which also is the city of origin of all his aforementioned relatives. He worked there with his uncle, Espinoza Farfán, until he met a French woman and decided to move with her to France, where he pursued his career in sculpting, drawing and painting.
“Sometimes I stayed working until 4 in the morning, because I really had to bring her back,” he said. “In that sense, what helped me the most was listening to [her theme song] ‘Montana,’ which contains some very moving words in Quechua. In the end, I decided to portray her singing, based on the video for that song.”
The Mambo Diabólico tribute was scheduled to follow a planned Sept. 9 tribute to Sumac at the El Cid club on Sunset Boulevard as part of another tribute to Yma Sumac that was to include Spanish-language compositions by Plum — his first foray into Latin American musical culture.“I remember that, in our house, my parents — [my father] was from Mexico City and [my mother] from Zacatecas — played music by Yma Sumac and [Dámaso] Pérez Prado,” he recalled in a phone interview.
“She did such different things than the others were doing,” Plum went on. “With her vocal range, she could have been a traditional opera singer, but she decided to do something completely unique. What impresses me the most about her isn’t the height of the notes that she could reach, but the creative choices that she made.
“That version has a melody and a rhythm that she made herself, but she never finished it. I had the honor of finishing it, and we will present it live, which means that we will premiere an original song of hers that no one has heard.
“In her case, all that fusion came from her husband, Moisés Vivanco, who was the one who arranged and orchestrated everything for her,” Bordarampé said, referring to the Ayacucho composer and musician who also wrote most of the songs performed by the Peruvian diva. Devine spoke about the 1954 Hollywood blockbuster “Secret of the Incas,” in which Sumac made a brief but memorable appearance.