Engineer and producer Russell Elevado started his career in 1986 in New York City. He’s widely recognized for the sound he created for D’Angelo’s “Voodoo” album which he recorded and mixed and earned him a Grammy Award for “Best R&B Album” in 2000. And in 2015 he won another Grammy for "Best R&B Album" on D'Angelo's "Black Messiah album, the long awaited follow up to Voodoo. His use of vintage recording equipment and analog tape gave the album an “old school” sound but with a modern approach inspired by hip hop and sampling. In the same period he mixed albums for some of pop, R&B and Hip Hop’s most influential artist’s and producers of era like Erykah Badu, Jay Z, Rick Rubin, Tony Visconti and Jay Dilla to name a few. His work with ?uestlove and the Roots is also notable, pushing the limits of organic hip hop and creative mixing. Elevado mixed the hugely successful debut single “Fallen” for superstar Alicia Keys. And in 2009, he was nominated for Best Engineered Album (non classical) for his recording of Al Green’s “Lay it Down”.
The interesting thing about Elevado is that he’s one of a few engineer’s who continue using analog tape from the initial recording to the mix. He’s 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 doesn’t use any plug-ins (digital effects and processing) and still uses large analog consoles for his mixing automation. His dedication to analog has defined his career attracting a wide range of artists from different genres like rock, jazz, hip hop, soul and world music.
