No lounge, exotica or easy-listening compilation is complete without a song from the late Peruvian soprano Yma Sumac. Born in 1922 as Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo and assumed the name of Yma Sumac from Ima Shumaq, “how beautiful” in her own native language, Yma is THE stereotypical exotic diva with the unbelievable voice and the temper that accompanies it.

We’ve already been acquainted with her through compilations but lately I’ve discovered her 1954 album Mambo! and run into a blockade of “not listen to anything else even if you’ve never ever been a mambo fan at all”. Composed by her on-off husband Moisés Vivanco this 11 song album is an exceptional piece of the human musical heritage and hope it does not remain as an exotic artifact for y’all too.