Ella Andall

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Ella Andall was born in a fishing village in Grenada and moved to Trinidad as a child, growing up in Couva. Her professional career began in the early 1970s with the encouragement of Lord Shorty, later Ras Shorty I, who wrote early recordings such as "Different People", and she toured with his Vibrations International band. In the 1980s and 1990s she worked closely with David Rudder and Andre Tanker. Andall reached the Soca Monarch finals in 1994, and in 1996 she made the National Calypso Monarch finals with "Missing Generation" and "Rhythm of a People", placing ninth, before returning to the finals in 1997. "Rhythm of a People" is now tied to Emancipation Day celebrations, while "Bring Down the Power" was developed with Brother Resistance. An Orisha devotee, she has recorded praise songs in Yoruba, including the collections Oriki Ogun and Sango Baba Wa. She has performed for Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama and appeared in Carnival Messiah in 1999.