The Legend of Yma Sumac

Yma Sumac, the five-octave Diva of Exotica, was born Zoila Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo in 1922 in Inchocan, Peru.

Sumac began performing on radio in Peru in her early teens. Bandleader and composer Moises Vivianco discovered her and began promoting her throughout South America. In 1947, Vivianco and Sumac married and moved to New York City. She performed with Vivianco's combo, Conjunto Folklorica Peruano, until she was contracted by Capitol Records in 1950.

Sumac made a series of records on the Capitol Records label mostly singing exotic Hollywood versions of Incan and South American folk songs.

The combination of Sumac's extraordinary voice, her exotic, mysterious looks, and her stage personality made her a great hit for American audiences. During the height of her popularity, she appeared in the films Secret of the Incas and Omar Khayam.

Sumac has remained mostly out of the limelight since the late 1950s, performing intermittently. She did record a complete album, "Miracles," a Rock "tour de force" in 1971, as well as one cut on Hal Wilner's tribute to Disney music, "Stay Awake," in 1991. - from wikipedia


Yma Sumac performs Chuncho


Taita Inti (Virgin of the Sun God) - from The Voice of Xtabay LP












Accla Taqui - The Voice Of Xtabay LP


Ataypura - The Voice Of Xtabay LP


Xtabay - The Voice Of Xtabay LP













Remember - from the Miracles LP circa 1970


Flame Tree - from the Miracles LP circa 1970

Face Beside The Fire

"For this dream of being awake suddenly was more urgent that the condition of actually being awake. He felt like an explorer who had at last walked into the true unknown and found that the treasure of discovery was the realization that true awareness needs not only the fact, but also the dream of the fact: these are the two vital ends to the journey between."
- from The Face Beside the Fire, 1953

Face Beside the Fire - from the Savage & the Sensuous
Bongos album by Don Ralke circa 1960


Voodoo Virgin featuring Almita

Les Baxter, 1922 -1996

Wherever exotica went, Les Baxter was there, often leading the way. His work for Capitol Records in the 1950s introduced most of the major movements in exotica. His 1950 album, "Music Out of the Moon," featured the theremin and was probably the best-selling theremin album of all time--and also founded the "space" school of exotica.

In 1951, he did the same for the "jungle" school of exotica with his landmark "Ritual of the Savage" LP, for which he wrote the theme song of exotica: "Quiet Village." He crested the European cover wave with his only number one hit, "Poor People of Paris," in 1956. He produced and wrote most of the first album by the four-octave Peruvian songstress, Yma Sumac, "Voice of the Xtabay" (I've always wondered if "Xtabay" was pig Latin for "Baxter"). And he can be credited with anticipating the percussion school with his all-drums album, "Skins! Bongo Party with Les Baxter." – from SpaceAgePop.com












Moon Moods - from Music Out Of the Moon


Radar Blues - from Music Out Of The Moon













Oasis of Dakhla - from Tamboo

WITCO Decor

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WITCO Decor/Mt. Vernon, Washington

Martin Denny, 1911- 2005

The man who brought the name "exotica" to this genre. The King of the Tiki Hut. Denny not only brought exotica its biggest hit of all time with his #2 single of Les Baxter's "Quiet Village,", he gave two other key figures in exotica--Arthur Lyman and Julius Wechter--their starts, and influenced several generations of lounge performers.

So mix yourself a Mai Tai, drop a little umbrella into your glass, kick off your shoes, and put a Martin Denny album on the turntable and take a trip to the Hawaii of your mind. Aloha! - from spaceagepop.com

Aku Aku - from Afro-Desia