Absolutely astounding. She was 65 when she made this appearance. How many singers are still performing at this level at that age? Truly a force of nature.
When I was young my father made his kids sit in the living room on Sunday afternoons and listen to classical music and read the encyclopedia! We didn't even have a TV when other families were getting them. My father loved Yma Sumac and we had to listen to her "nightengale voice" but as kids we really did not understand or appreciate her voice. But it did get us wondering about the Incas and the Amazon. So it is great fun to find her recordings on the internet now.
Great singer. She came to visit Peru few years before her dead, the government there gave her many awards as she deserved because her voice was truly a miracle !!
I've loved her since I was 13 in the early 50's and met her ln San Diego at a military bash and had the honor of dancing with her and Martha Ray. A very wonderful lady. May she rest in peace and know that she left a great following.
Gracias profesor de apreciación musical, por enseñarnos que en Perú teníamos a un gran talento que se llama Ymac sumac. Los Peruanos te amamos, llevar el nombre de nuestro País en alto. :D
I got an education from Google today. I'm 61 and I've never heard of her. I've listened to some of her pieces and she' s amazing. Never heard anything like it.
and in this clip she's no longer a young woman with the range she once had but was still amazing. yes too bad Letterman was such a douche lord. this is music of the world and he's being the ugly american.
Hi! My name is Julia. I am a high school/college student from Chicago in the United States. Peru fascinates me. I would be so grateful to speak with someone from and living in the country to learn about the food, culture, & ways of daily life. We would practice English as well. Thank you.
Que maravilla!! No la conocía. Entre aquí por recomendación de RU-vid... Tal vez porque mi padre me inculco el amor por la musica y oigo mucho folclore... Hoy el ya no vive pero cada tanto lo siento cerca escuchando bellas melodías como las de esta mujer maravillosa. Que bien represento a su país (Perú) y a latinoamérica. Saludos desde la Patagonia 💖😍
kenneth lao Well, no, I didn't mean that. I was just refuting the person that claimed that Mariah couldn't. She may not be as efficient as Sumac, but she can do it. 😊
When she was younger, she sang this in a Charleton Heston movie, "Secret of The Incas," where Charleton Heston was "Indiana Jones of the 1950's". Cool movie! Yma was smoking!
Her Capitol albums still sound fantastic. They have not dated at all. She aged beautifully. She could be quite imperious and worked her musicians hard but she was also very witty and enjoyed life. In later years she worked with bands composed of young rock musicians and they loved working with this living legend with a truly unique talent.
I'm definitely a proud Peruvian to know Google has made a tribute to Yma on her birthday. However, i truly HATE how Dave kept cutting her off and then used the excuse "we gotta go to commercials" like really?!? How disrespectful to treat a legend like that!!
It is a disrespect as You said, but we were ungrateful to Her in many ways, by not recognizing Her Talent and The Place She deserved among The Greatest Singers, that' s why She lived Most of Her life away from Perú.
TV in the 1980s America is completely different from today. Dave's not at fault. Blame NBC for the hurriedness. Even late night tv was affected by commercials since his show "Late Night With David Letterman" came on after 12:30am.
I have loved Yma Sumac for twenty years yet I had never known she appeared on Letterman's show until accidentally finding this video here. Thanks SO MUCH for posting!
alucinante YMA SUMAC...la voz mas espectacular que he oido en mi vida,la mas grande diva peruana de todos los tiempos...famosa en varias partes del mundo,sin embargo muy poco conocida en su propio pais (peru)aqui muchos la conocen,pero la gran mayoria no sabe de ella,y que hacen las autoridades o a quien corresponda difundir su musica su legado,su leyenda,y que sea conocida y reconocida en su real dimension,aqui se valora a artistas que no tienen ni la cuarta parte de calidad que YMA SUMAC
omg David is so cute, when he realizes that what he asks of Yma, to demonstrate her lower tone, is something extremely difficult to be done like that and although she prepares to do so (starts the body positioning and the muscle preparation) he so politely jumps into commercial... he is adorable... adorable... and this woman was indeed a miracle (btw normal people's singing range is less than an octave, talented singers usually have two octaves, phenomenally talented singers (Callas) have 3 active octaves and Yma had 5!!!! she was a unique phenomenon!!)
I have a couple of her albums that I believe were recorded about thirty years before this. She seems to have never lost her amazing vocal range. This is an amazing performance! Did she ever record a live album?
This was when I discovered YMA! I used to be a dave junky....SO MUCH SO that I would make my own 6 hour BEST OF DAVE compilations on VHS. I had 8 of them edited with BEST OF....A while later I was watching them I saw this and didn't remember including it! WELL....2nd time was a charm and when I saw it I was hooked forever!
Awesome! Sounds like trip-hop from the late 1990s or 2000s ! I know it's the exotica beats ! Yma is Awesome!! :) I love how she stops on a dime with her high notes !
Dang...this lady is 65 years old. She looks fantastic! Singer's like this always seem to look great...could it be all that oxygen and diaphram control and mental agililty used in application of the art?
She has a beautiful voice, and if you watch some of the older videos from when she was a younger person it is obvious that she has a large full chest which is helpful with singing in higher octaves and also quite attractive on a lady.
Strange how a person can forget the first experience/exposure to Yma Sumac's sublime hyper-"ethereality". 1987- Hollywood- the Roosevelt Hotel Miss Sumac gave so much to the audience- in return we were enraptured. I think about heaven now, about the soundwaves of her voice broadcast across the universe, and I am not that kind of person. Thank you so much for posting -R
I love how expressive she is with her face and her hands. That song reminded me of a native american song they would sing around the campfire while celebrating or before getting ready to do into battle. This is the first I am hearing of her, but I love her already.
I don't know if I'll get an answer but did this Beautiful legend pass away 🤔, if so rest in peace, she paved the way for Minnie, and Mariah to do whistle tones. Love it ❤❤
There is an excellent book on Ms. Sumac that clarifies a great deal about her, debunks tall tales, and goes into tremendous detail on her life and talent. Available from Amazon, among other places.
This was when I discovered YMA! I used to be a dave junky....SO MUCH SO that I would make my own 6 hour BEST OF DAVE compilations on VHS. A while later I was watching them I saw this and didn't remember including it! WELL....2nd time was a charm and when I saw it I was hooked forever!
Rev. Sam Rose, at ESP Lab, knew Yma, and wrote songs for her night club act in his songwriting days ( the Hollywood Shuffle, as he called it). They were in touch, until she passed, and I only found out that she was still alive, when he put her name in for a special Niht Lighttreatment during our nightly distant group mediation and blessing. He sent me lyrics for a Christmas Carol about angels singing on high, that he wrote for her, and said that, if I listened, I could hear Yma singing.
