YMA SUMAC / イマ・スマック / THE LEGEND OF THE SUN VIRGIN / レコード

スペインの新興レーベルEllas Rugen Recordsのリリース第一弾は、5オクターブの声を操りモンド・ブーム時に一世を風靡したペルー出身の妖しいエキゾチカ・ソプラノ・シンガー、イマ・スマックが1952年にリリースした2ndアルバムを美しい新ジャケットでリイシュー!未公開の写真、著名な歴史家Carmen McEvoyによって書かれたテキストを収録、そして最新のリマスターというこれ以上ない仕様でのリリースとなっております!



THE VINYL NEW EDITION OF "LEGEND OF THE SUN VIRGIN" WILL BE THE FIRST RELEASE OF ELLAS RUGEN RECORDS,
A RECORD LABEL FOCUSED ON VINDICATING THE MAIN FEMALE VOICES OF LATIN AMERICA.

With the intention of celebrating the music of Yma Sumac and continuing to spread her legacy, Ellas Rugen Records reissues on vinyl one of the highest points of her career: "Legend of the Sun Virgin", recorded in 1952 in the United States by Capital Records. The production, which she signed with her husband and close collaborator, the composer Moisés Vivanco, reflects the exotic proposal of Sumac, a pioneer in World Music and a true ambassador of Peruvian culture in the world.

True to the spirit of this new record company, the vinyl has been carefully edited and it includes unpublished photos from Sumac's personal archive, an informative text written by renowned historian Carmen McEvoy and a state-of-the-art sound remastering. In addition, through the pre-sale, which has already started through BandCamp, collectors will be able to access a limited edition that includes a colored vinyl.

With this, Ellas Rugen Records begins its journey with the aim of reclaiming and giving a new life to the great Latin American artists of the second half of the 20th century. In addition to Sumac’s reissue, the label already has its next releases in process, which will focus on iconic singers from Venezuela and Mexico.

“Due to the lack of cultural preservation policies and the negligence of small record labels from the 60s, 70s and 80s, a lot of our musical legacy is being lost. The current low profitability of these projects means that large companies forget productions that still have a lot to contribute. This is why this label aims to honor these artists by reissuing, revaluing and bringing their best productions to new generations”, says Jalo Nuñez del Prado, music producer, founder and director of Ellas Rugen Records.


About Yma Sumac:

She was born in Peru in 1922 under the name of Zoila Emperatriz Chávarry, but it was the pseudonym of Yma Sumac that led her to cross borders and travel the world thanks to her incredible and unusual four-octave vocal register. She blurred the boundaries between reality and fiction by saying that she was a descendant of Atahualpa herself and that she had learned to sing by imitating the trills of birds of her native land, stories that only enhanced her exotic aura and caught the attention of the world.

Almost 100 years after her birth there are few Latin American artists who can compare their achievements and careers to Sumac’s. Figures like Queen Elizabeth II, Nikita Khrushchev, Quincy Jones or Cher have declared themselves admirers of the Peruvian diva who displayed her talent all over the world: she was supported by Frank Sinatra in Japan, toured the Soviet Union for more than six months and had a stint in Hollywood, where she co-starred in a movie with Charlton Heston.

Over the years and even after her death, Sumac had also established herself as an icon for the LGBTQ+ community. Back in the 70s, gay activist groups in California held parties honoring her, (where they even cooked “cuy” or guinea pig, a traditional meal in some areas of Peru) to celebrate the origins of the diva. In the following decade, the famous drag queen Lady Bunny chose Sumac's "Malambo No. 1" for a performance during the Wigstock festival (known as the Woodstock of drag). More recently, that same song was showcased in a lip sync competition for the popular reality show "RuPaul's Drag Race," which marked one of the show's most iconic moments. It also turned viral after internet enthusiasts began to upload videos of their own interpretations of Sumac’s song.