Russell Elevado (born 1966 in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

) is a

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Description

Russell Elevado is a multi-Grammy award-winning record producer and recording engineer, born in the Philippines in 1966. His family immigrated to the United States in 1972 and grew up in New York City. Elevado's career started in 1986 when he started an internship at producer Arthur Baker's studio called Shakedown Studios in New York City. Elevado worked at various studios as assistant engineer eventually ending up at Quad Studios where he made his engineering start and was a staff engineer there from 1989 to 1991. Upon leaving Quad Studios, Elevado went independent. Elevado is known for his use of analog equipment exclusively and prefers recording to tape for his productions.

Accolades

Russell Elevado has a catalog of 50 full albums from the over 100 albums in his discography. Elevado earned a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 2000 for his production work

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

and mixing

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

recording artist

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

's critically acclaimed album ''

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

''. ''Voodoo'' is now considered a classic album in the contemporary R&B genre and paved the way for the

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from Soul music, soul ...

movement. Elevado's "old school" engineering and production techniques and preference for using mostly vintage equipment gave the album a sound reminiscent of classic soul or funk records fused with hip-hop textures and psychedelic treatments heard on classic 1960s and 1970s rock records. In 2009, he received a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album for engineering

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

's '' Lay It Down''. In 2015, he won a Grammy for

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the Contemporary R&B, R&B mus ...

on D'Angelo's '' Black Messiah'', the long-awaited follow-up to ''Voodoo''. In 2020 Elevado won a Grammy in the Best World Music category for mixing

Angelique Kidjo Angelique or Angélique may refer to: * Angélique (given name), a French feminine name Arts and entertainment Music * Angélique (instrument), a string instrument of the lute family * ''Angélique'', a 1927 opéra bouffe by Jacques Ibert * A ...

's "Celia" album. in the same year he also received a nomination as producer/engineer/mixer for the band

Lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

in the Best Jazz instrumental album category. Elevado's shows his broad range of styles among artists when he received the

Grammy award for Album of the year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the r ...

for

Jon Batiste Jonathan Michael Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists including Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Prince (musician), ...

's album We Are in 2022 which also won numerous awards that year. From 2003 to 2006 Elevado produced, recorded and mixed 3 albums for the late jazz trumpet player

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

. The band was called Roy Hargrove and the RH Factor which was a fusion of jazz, soul and funk. All of which were recorded and mixed all analog with minimal overdubs in a time when Elevado's contemporaries were embracing digital recording and mixing. These albums are a prime example of Elevado’s sound, creativity and vision. Elevado mixed a few songs for

Bilal __NOTOC__ Bilal may refer to: People * Bilal (name), or Belal or Bilel, including a list of people with the name * Bilal ibn Rabah, a companion of Muhammad, made calls for prayers * Bilal (American singer) * Bilal (Lebanese singer) Places * Bi ...

's controversially unreleased second album, '' Love for Sale''. His work with

Questlove Ahmir K. Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought ...

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

and

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

is also very notable, pushing the limits of organic hip hop with creative mixing and production. he's worked with some of the most popular and influential artists and producers of his era like

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

(Elevado mixed her hugely successful debut single “Fallen”),

Jay Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by ''Billboard'' and '' Vibe'' i ...

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

and J Dilla to name a few. What sets him apart from his peers is his commitment to analog and organic method of creativity. He has been quoted in many interviews about his dissatisfaction with the

digital recording In digital recording, an audio signal, audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or Color, chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is s ...

medium and the way it has changed the industry and the creative process of artists and production. Elevado does not use any plug-ins (digital effects and processing) and uses analog equipment exclusively for processing. His dedication to analog has defined his career attracting a wide range of artists from different genres.

Selected discography

Full albums *

Angélique Kidjo Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo (; born July 14, 1960) is a Beninese- French singer-songwriter, actress and activist noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Kidjo has won five Grammy A ...

- "OYO" *

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore County, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is cha ...

- "Isn't It Now?" *

Blackalicious Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...

- “Blazing Arrow” *

- “The Craft” *

Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage o ...

- “Birth of Cornelius” *

- “Voodoo” (engineered and mixed) *

- "Black Messiah" *

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

’s Block Party - Soundtrack w/ various artists * David Ward - “Violet, Gold + Rose” (mixed and mastered) * Dornik- "Dornik" * Fredy Massamba - "Makasi" *

Goapele Goapele Mohlabane ( ; born July 11, 1977) is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. Her name means ''to move forward'' in Setswana, a Southern African language. Early life Goapele's South African father Douglas Mohlabane was an exiled pol ...

- “Change It All” *

iET __NOTOC__ IET can refer to: Organizations * Institute of Educational Technology, part of the Open University * Institution of Engineering and Technology, a UK-based professional engineering institution ** Institute of Engineers and Technicians, wh ...

- "So Unreal" *

Inky Inky may refer to: People People with the given name Inky * Inky Mark (born 1947), Canadian politician * Inky Moore (1925–2000), American conservationist People with the nickname Inky * Pete Incaviglia (born 1964), American professional basebal ...

- "Primal Swag" *

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Feat.

- “MTV Unplugged” *

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Tii Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American arranger, composer and jazz saxophonist. Archived July 9, 2015. He is a founding member of the jazz collective West Coast Get Down. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raise ...

- "Truth" *

Karl Denson Karl Denson (born December 27, 1956) is an American funk and jazz saxophonist, flutist and vocalist from Santa Ana, California. He plays with The Rolling Stones, and leads his own group, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe (KDTU). He co-founded The Grey ...

- “The Bridge” *

Keziah Jones Keziah Jones (born Olufemi Sanyaolu on 10 January 1968) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He describes his musical style as "Blufunk", which is a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms. Also his Nigerian roo ...

- “Black Orpheus” *

- "Captain Rugged" * Mike Andersen - "Echoes" *

Nikka Costa Domenica "Nikka" Costa (born June 4, 1972) is an American singer whose music combines elements of pop, soul, and blues. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of music producer Don Costa. Ear ...

- "Everybody's Got Their Something” *

- "Pebble to a Pearl" *

Patrice Patrice is a given name meaning ''noble'' or '' patrician'', related to the names Patrick and Patricia. In English, Patrice is often a feminine first name. In French, it is used as a masculine first name. Popularity In the United States, the popul ...

- “Nile” *

- "One" *

presents

The RH Factor Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

- “Hard Groove” (Co-produced, engineered and mixed) *

presents

- “Strength” (Co-produced, engineered and mixed) *

presents

- “Distractions” (Co-produced, engineered and mixed) *

Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film ''Slam ( ...

- “Amethyst Rock Star” *

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American psychedelic rock, psychedelic/ band, formed in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia Mc ...

- The Dandy Warhols Are Sound * Tye Tribbett & G.A - “Life” *

Wayna Wayna (real name Woyneab Miraf Wondwossen) is an R&B/soul singer and songwriter who was born in Ethiopia and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. She worked as a writer for the Clinton White House before releasing three solo albums, garneri ...

- "The Expats" * Xenia Franca - "Em Nome Da Estrela" *

Zap Mama Zap Mama is a Belgian singer-songwriter, performer, composer, lyricist, activist, video artist and ethno-vocal therapist born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raised in Belgium. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music ...

- "ReCreation"

References

External links

Full discographyPersonal websiteVideo
1966 births American audio engineers Grammy Award winners Living people American people of Filipino descent {{US-music-bio-stub