Andrade played violin as a teenager and moved to New York in the early 1920s, holding a position in Deacon Johnson's orchestra.
He married Charlotte Cooper and moved to a brownstone in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
He held a regular gig at the Renaissance Casino and also worked the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem, which featured high-level dancing.
He remained at the Renaissance until 1938; members of his band included Pete Briggs, Ernest Hill, and Zutty Singleton.
Nevertheless, his style of arrangements was an influence on bandleaders like Fletcher Henderson and Chick Webb.