Jay Notes delights Andall with tribute

CULTURAL icon Ella Andall was mobbed on Thursday by the youth of Jay Notes Steel Orchestra as the band paid tribute to Andal twice that evening. Jay Notes, based on Guy Street, Sangre Grande, chose Andall's Missing Generation song for the Panorama small band competition which began preliminary judging last Thursday. Prior to their performance, the band presented Andall with an award to honour her contribution to the art form.

Andall entered the pan tent smiling broadly and dancing as the drummers announced her arrival. She later explained the motive behind her singing Missing Generation 19 years ago and gave the youths some advice.

She said, "This song has a lot of good memories and some that I want to forget about too, because people didn't have the best thing to say about this song. But after listening to the lyrics through the years up to this day, this song is still here. The thing about a good piece of music is no matter where you go the music stays. I have done a lot of pieces, by the grace of God, and I am happy to hear you all playing that particular song. Make it as an anthem for the village so you can check for one another. So when you see one of your brothers or sisters moving how they shouldn't say, 'Hear nah, you shouldn't.'"

Andall added, "There is no lost generation. You miss them, you have to find them and look for them. And that's what the whole thing is about."

She also warned the youths about the dangers of social media and in particular Facebook which she said she is not a fan of.

As the youths in the band rushed to get pictures with her, Andall said, "Thank you very much to all of you who are carrying the music forward and further into the future."

Jay Notes member Montsho Masimba said initially a lot of people expressed scepticism about the selection of the social commentary song for Panorama but arranger Akil Brown was adamant Missing Generation was the right song. He said in the Carnival environment, the song was a reminder that there are also a lot of serious issues affecting youth that need to be addressed.