Russell Elevado

Russell Elevado (born 1966 in the Philippines), is a recording engineer and record producer based in New York City. Elevado earned a Grammy award in 2000 for his 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 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 2015 he and D'Angelo won another Grammy for Best R&B Album for his work on D'Angelo's Black Messiah, the long-awaited follow-up to Voodoo. Also notable is his work with The Roots, Erykah Badu, Common and Bilal. In 2009, he received a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album for engineering Al Green's Lay It Down. Elevado has worked with some of the most influential artists and producers of his time, including Alicia Keys, Questlove, Rick Rubin, Tony Visconti, Mark Ronson, Roberta Flack and Blackalicious. He remains faithful to analog recording techniques and equipment in the modern era of digital recording and is one of only a handful of engineers and producers who still prefer analog tape as their recording medium.