Ella May Saison

Ella May Saison (Also credited as Ella Mae Saison) is a Filipino singer. She was Manila's "Queen of Soul" in the early 90s.

She is best known for the big hits "Till My Heartaches End" and "If The Feeling Is Gone", subsequently covered by Passage and Kyla respectively. She won the Katha Award for Best Female Performer and scored one Gold and one Platinum album. Prior to landing a recording contract, she used to be a soloist for Artstart Band specializing in jazz, gospel and blues.

Biography

Saison began her recording career at age 19. A year after her second album release, she signed a recording deal with Evander Holyfield's independent record label. Her songs "So In Love" and "Never Had The Chance" were released in 1997. She also worked with top producers like Umberto Garcia (producer of Celine Dion), Gerry Brown (producer of Vanessa Williams) and artists such as The Eagles, and 4-Example.

Saison released a single with CeCe Peniston entitled "Reminiscing", which made the Billboard Charts under the "Powerpick Club Play" category, hitting number 30. Ella May also performed at the Awards Dinner of the Republic of South Africa and the African Times in honor of President Nelson Mandela. [cite web
last = Panaligan
first = Jojo P.
title = Ella Mae Saison reclaims ?Queen of Soul? title
work = Manila Bulletin Online
date = 2005-02-16
url = http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2005/02/16/ENTR2005021628870.html
accessdate = 2006-10-12 ]

The name of the group she worked with was IV Xample not "4-example." She specifically worked with Bryant Woodert (PKA Lucius) of IV Xample who produced her vocals for "So In Love." This song went on to win an award in the Philippines for best vocal production. Bryant Woodert never received any credit for doing vocal production though he is listed as a singer for background on Ella's album credits (under Lucius of IV Xample). Though Gerry Brown was the engineer for this session, he did not participate in any vocal direction even though he and Andrew Rollins where given the credit for this. Andrew Rollins (who was in New York at the time of the recording) later received the Philippine award for best vocal production.

References

Andrew Rollins was the producer, songwriter and musician on Saisons album. Jerry Brown was the engineer.The album was recorded at A&M Studios Humberto Gatica was also an engineer.

External links

* [http://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/starrecords/artist.asp?id=38&page=3 Star Records Bio]