Russell Elevado

Russell Elevado (born 1966) is a recording engineer and record producer based in New York City.

Biography Elevado was born in the Philippines in 1966. His family immigrated to the United States in 1972, and he grew up in New York City, where he studied at the Institute of Audio Research. Elevado's career started in 1986 when he started an internship at producer Arthur Baker's Shakedown Studios in New York City. Elevado worked at various studios as assistant engineer, eventually ending up at Quad Studios, where he worked as a staff engineer from 1989 to 1991. Upon leaving Quad Studios, Elevado went independent.

Accolades Elevado earned a Grammy Award in 2000 for his production work recording and mixing contemporary R&B recording artist D'Angelo's critically acclaimed album Voodoo. Voodoo is now considered a classic album in the contemporary R&B genre and paved the way for the neo 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

His work with Questlove, the Roots and Common 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 (Elevado mixed her hugely successful debut single “Fallin'”), Jay Z, Rick Rubin, Tony Visconti, Mark Ronson, Erykah Badu 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 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 Al Green - Lay It Down (engineered full album) Angélique Kidjo - ÕŸÖ Animal Collective - Isn't It Now? Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow Blackalicious - The Craft Corneille - The Birth of Cornelius D'Angelo - Brown Sugar (mixed 3 tracks) D'Angelo - Voodoo (engineered and mixed) D'Angelo - Black Messiah Dave Chappelle’s Block Party - Soundtrack w/ various artists Dornik- Dornik Goapele - Change It All iET - So Unreal Jay-Z Feat. The Roots - MTV Unplugged Kamasi Washington - Truth Karl Denson - The Bridge Keziah Jones - Black Orpheus Keziah Jones - Captain Rugged Mike Andersen - Echoes Nikka Costa - Everybody's Got Their Something Nikka Costa - Pebble to a Pearl Patrice - Nile Patrice - One The Roots - Game Theory (mixed selected tracks) Roy Hargrove presents The RH Factor - Hard Groove (Co-produced, engineered and mixed) Roy Hargrove presents The RH Factor - Strength EP (Co-produced, engineered and mixed) Roy Hargrove presents The RH Factor - Distractions (Co-produced, engineered and mixed) Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star The Dandy Warhols - The Dandy Warhols Are Sound Tye Tribbett & G.A - Life Wayna - The Expats Zap Mama - ReCreation