 Musical
adventures for Lloyd Tolbert began when he started studying
music and playing drums at the tender age of ten. Lloyd has
worked as a producer, co-producer and arranger for such artists as: Diana Ross, El deBarge, Cheryl Lynn, Brownstone, TLC and Dee
Harvey. He has provided
digital editing for Norman Brown on his cover of the Stevie Wonder
hit, “Too High.” Lloyd
also worked on arrangements for Smokey Robinson and Teddy
Pendergrass.
In
1999-2000, Lloyd once again collaborated with Lionel Richie on his
most recent project “Renaissance”. His role as a writer, producer, arranger and musician on the
track “Don’t You Ever Go Away” displays his versatile
creativity.
In
2000-2001 Lloyd once again provided his musical magic for two
feature film projects. The
cable television movie “Love & Action in Chicago” starring
Courtney Vance and Regina King, featured three original tunes
“Baby, Baby”, “Give It A Try” and “Let Me Love You”,
which were written and produced by Lloyd. An additional film project to benefit from Lloyd’s
melodious talents in the form of the tune “How Did We Come to
This”, was the Screen Gems/Sony Pictures production of
“Brothers”, starring Morris Chestnut, Shemar Moore and Bill
Belamy.
Having
become a Pro-tools expert, Lloyd has been requested to participate
on projects for such artists as Brandy, Yolanda Adams, Sunshine
Anderson, Eric Benet, LSG and Terry Dexter.
Currently,
Lloyd has been working with the legendary group The Emotions,
writing and producing original songs that would re-introduce the
trio to their existing fans, while creating a new generation of
music followers. Tolbert
& mixer/engineer Ralph Sutton collaborate together and are
developing new artists.
Ralph
Sutton’s illustrious career as a recording engineer spans the
better part of three decades and innumerable sessions with the
recording industry’s elite. After graduating from the
Recording Institute of America, and taking follow-up courses at
UCLA, Ralph was hired at City Recorders as a runner, and quickly
advanced to second engineer. He
subsequently moved to Chateau Recording Studios where he
collaborated with Ken Scott, the great British engineer of
Beetles’ fame and worked on recordings for Missing Persons, Kenny
Loggins and Kansas among others.
Ralph has re-mixed “You Are Not Alone” for Michael Jackson;
“Wanna Take You Down” for Lionel Richie; Paula Abdul’s “If I
Were Your Girl” and “Cry For Me;” and Stevie Wonder’s remake
of Marvin Gaye’s “Stubborn Kind of Fellah.” He has recorded and mixed three of Norman Brown’s albums, Just Between Us, After The Storm and Better
Days Ahead. For
the exceptional recorded quality of After The Storm,
Sutton received Adlib Magazine’s Superior Record of the Year in
the Best Engineering Section.
Currently,
as the Chief Engineer and Director of Studio Operations for
Wonderland Recording Studios Ralph records and mixes for Stevie
Wonder. Recent work
includes soundtrack for Spike Lee film 'Bamboozled’ and
the upcoming soundtrack for Newline Cinema, ‘John Q’ starring Denzel Washington. Sutton
and songwriter/arranger, Lloyd Tolbert collaborate together
and are developing new artists.
An
active member of the National Association of Recording Arts and
Sciences for the past 17 years, Sutton was recently elected to the
Board of Governors. “My
dedication to The Recording Academy also encompasses my activities
as liaison of the Producers and Engineers (P&E) wing, chairman
of the Grammy’s in the Schools committee, and sitting on a host of
committees within The Academy,” says Sutton.
For a detailed and up
to date biography of both Lloyd Tolbert and Ralph Sutton, please
follow these links to StudioExpresso:
LloydLTolbert RalphSutton
 Special
thanks to the team that filmed the interview at Studio
Atlantis, Johnny
Jaskot Producer /Director, Brian Sferrazzo Camera
1, and Eric Slater Camera 2 and lights.
Very special thanks to Claris at StudioExpresso.com for facilitating this feature and for doing the interview! |
