Vernon Andrade was an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 bandleader active primarily in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in the 1920s and 1930s.

Andrade played violin as a teenager and moved to New York in the early 1920s, holding a position in Deacon Johnson's orchestra. He picked up double-bass in 1923 and became a bandleader around the same time. He married Charlotte Cooper  and moved to a brownstone in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

. Oddly enough he and Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...

 were neighbors and in-laws. He held a regular gig at the Renaissance Casino and also worked the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

, which featured high-level dancing. Frankie Manning

Frankie Manning

Frankie Manning was an American dancer, instructor and choreographer. Manning is considered one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop.-Early years:...

 was among Andrade's admirers. He remained at the Renaissance until 1938; members of his band included Pete Briggs

Pete Briggs

Pete Briggs was an American jazz bass and tuba player.Briggs was born in Charleston, South Carolina and was related to bandleader Arthur Briggs. He first played professionally in the early 1920s with the Jim Jam Jazzers, and soon after played with the Lucky Boy Minstrels...

, Ernest Hill

Ernest Hill

Ernest "Bass" Hill was an American jazz double-bassist.Hill played from 1924 with Claude Hopkins, and remained with him on a tour of Europe with Josephine Baker the following year. Hill and Hopkins collaborated numerous times over the next few years and again in the 1940s...

, and Zutty Singleton. Helen Humes

Helen Humes

Helen Humes was an American jazz and blues singer.Humes was successively a teenaged blues singer, band vocalist with Count Basie, saucy R&B diva and a mature interpreter of the classy popular song.-Career:...

 recorded with Andrade's band on Okeh Records

Okeh Records

Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...

, but other than this, Andrade recorded little in his career, and was largely forgotten as a result. Nevertheless, his style of arrangements was an influence on bandleaders like Fletcher Henderson

Fletcher Henderson

James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...

 and Chick Webb

Chick Webb

William Henry Webb, usually known as Chick Webb was an American jazz and swing music drummer as well as a band leader.-Biography:...

. Andrade spent the later years of his life teaching piano and violin.