Alan Elliott was signed to a recording contract by Warner Bros. Records
president Lenny Waronker shortly upon graduation from Northwestern University
in 1986. After two years recording for Warner Bros., Elliott was the
first musical writer hired by Steven Bochco (the creator of New York Cops: NYPD Blue (1993)) for the
now infamous television musical series Cop Rock (1990). Shortly after Cop Rock (1990),
Elliott was hired by President Doug Morris and Jason Flom to work at
Atlantic Records' West Coast office as a staff producer/Artists and
Repertoire representative. At Atlantic, he worked with a diverse slate
of acts ranging from En Vogue, Phil Collins, 'Gerald LeVert', Debbie Gibson and Tori Amos as
well as producing the first "alternative" music album for the label by
the Snapdragons. Elliott also discovered and produced the rap act Mr.
Nice Guy. In addition, he was responsible for the idea of mining
Atlantic's existing back catalog, which resulted in a deal between
Atlantic and Rhino Records.
Following Atlantic, Elliott worked in the Artists and Repertoire
division at Warner Brothers Records where he served as a creative
liaison ("A & R man") for Prince, Miles Davis, George Clinton and Paul Simon. In
1994, Elliott and his then partner Ari Emanuel started Matter Inc., one of
the first companies to focus on entertainment programming for the
Internet. Revolutionary in its foresight, the company produced the
first celebrity "chat show" on line for America Online in 1995 with
"The Oldsmobile Hour" which featured a different celebrity answering
and interacting with America Online subscribers five nights a week.
In 1995, he composed, orchestrated and arranged scores for such
television shows as Here and Now (1992) and The Naked Truth (1995) for NBC, "The NFL on Fox" for
FBC, in addition to composing the opening and closing themes for the
Grammy Awards in 1997 and 1998. His production of Carl Hancock Rux's
1999 Sony album "Rux Revue" earned him praise from the New Yorker,
Interview and Spin magazine as well as being featured on National
Public Radio's "Morning Edition". Elliott's production of the band
Speakeasy, featuring legendary guitarist Ry Cooder, his son Joachim and
newcomer Juliette Commagere was singled out twice by the Los Angeles
Times in the "Pop Eye" column. He discovered Ms. Commagere when she was
16 years old, singing at a restaurant in Silverlake.
Elliott has written orchestrations, arrangements and conducted for acts
such as Beck, V.A.S.T., Jamiroquai and Supergrass in addition to Varese
Sarabande's tribute to Burt Bacharach. His remix work has been featured
on Jamiroquai's multi-platinum "Virtual Insanity" and Eel's "Susan's
House." He continues to find talent for record companies and was
responsible for signing the band "Eels" to Dreamworks Records.
In November, 2000, Elliott produced comedian Brandon Bowlin's one man
show, "Return from the Underground." As a result, Bowlin was featured
as "the new voice in comedy" in the 1999 preview issue of the Sunday
Los Angeles Times Calendar section. After the success of the initial
production, Elliott will produce a new incarnation of Bowlin's show
with Bernie Brillstein for Brillstein-Grey Productions that will be
seen at HBO's Aspen Comedy and Arts Festival in February, 2000. Last
year, he started "Al's Records & Tapes" with funding from Interscope
Records. This led to the debut release from the band Woven, which he
produced.
Elliott has studied composition and orchestration with Jack Smalley as well
as working and/or studying with such acclaimed artists as Quincy Jones,
Dave Grusin, Henry Mancini, Wah Wah Watson, Phil Ramone, the Dust Brothers and his
father, Jack Elliott.
