Ammondt is not your average Elvis impersonator. ““I’m a scholar,’’ he says. ““I wouldn’t feel right in stars and glitter. I prefer a white tuxedo.’’ He rose to cult status last year with his album of Elvis ballads, including ““Nunc hic aut numquam’’ (““It’s Now or Never’’) and ““Tenere me ama’’ (““Love Me Tender’’). But he soon felt ““something was missing. The rocking part of Elvis’s work demanded to be interpreted in Latin.’’ So he’s been in the studio exercising his mellifluous croon and Muzak-tinged symphonics on classics like ““Nunc distrahor’’ (““All Shook Up’’) and ““Totus Potus’’ (““Tutti Frutti’’). The new album will be released on Elvis’s birthday, Jan. 8.
Ammondt is no stranger to the obscure and the absurd. His academic specialty: the Finnish melancholy tango. On a dare, Ammondt sent his album of sad tangos–in Latin, of course–to Pope John Paul II. The pope turned around and gave the Finn a medal of honor. That’s something even the King couldn’t swing.
