Born in Israel, in a small town called Cesaree, in 1974, Keren Ann Zeidel grew up steeped in a rich mix of cultures. Her Israeli father is descended from a family of Russian Jews and her mother is the daughter of a Javanese woman and a Dutch officer.

Keren Ann and her brother and sister enjoyed a well-travelled youth, spending their childhood in the Netherlands. Then, when Keren Ann turned 11, the Zeidel family moved to Paris (where Keren Ann's mother had lived until the age of 18).

Surrounded by a fascinating mix of musical cultures from an early age, Keren Ann grew up listening to everything from French 'variété' and American folk to traditional Yiddish music. The budding young songwriter began writing her own material while still in her early teens, but devoted herself to her education after passing her 'baccalauréat', going on to study computer science, philosophy and psychology. As a student, Keren Ann also went out to California to take a course in oceanography in San Diego.

Keren Ann continued writing songs throughout her teenage years, however. And in 1998 she decided to make a career of her passion, forming the band Shelby with two other female musicians at the age of 24. Shelby went on to record a debut album together which sold relatively well on the French music scene but never made the charts.

Meanwhile, Keren Ann met a young musician and songwriter by the name of Benjamin Biolay. This was to prove an essential turning-point in Keren Ann's solo career as shortly after they met, the pair sat down and wrote a series of songs together. These would feature on Keren Ann's acclaimed debut album, "La Biographie de Luka Philipsen". The mysterious protagonist of the title was a composite character inspired by Suzanne Vega's song "Luka" (Vega having been a personal idol of Keren Ann's for many years) and her grandmother's family name, Philipsen.

"La Biographie de Luka Philipsen" appeared to emerge on the French music scene from nowhere, little being known about the singer/songwriter behind it before its release. But the aura of mystery surrounding Keren Ann's first album appeared to work in the singer's favour and "La Biographie de Luka Philipsen" soon caught on with record-buyers and music critics.

Keren Ann's impeccably-crafted melodies and sensitive lyrics also attracted a lot of attention. By the singer's own admission, many of her songs were influenced by childhood musical idols such as Françoise Hardy, Suzanne Vega and Claudine Longet (a forgotten French star who enjoyed a relatively successful career in the States in the 60s).

Before "La Biographie de Luka Philipsen" was released in April 2000, Keren Ann performed her first solo concert on the terrace of the "Golf de l'Etoile" in Paris in March. A few weeks later her video clip "Seule" hit French television screens. Interestingly enough, the clip was directed by Emilie Chédid, (daughter of French music legend Louis Chedid and sister of alternative pop star M).

Following the release of "La Biographie de Luka Philipsen" Keren Ann embarked on a promotional tour. She also supported Joe Cocker when he played at Le Zénith in Paris on April 9th, although her repertoire of intimate ballads was hardly suited to such a vast cavernous space.

In November 2000 Keren Ann appeared at a music festival organised by the monthly French culture and rock magazine "Les Inrockuptibles". But shortly afterwards the budding young singer/songwriter and versatile musician (Keren Ann plays guitar, harmonica and clarinet) decided to take a break from the media spotlight. And she headed off to Thailand with Benjamin Biolay to write a series of new songs for a potential follow-up album.

One of the major events in Keren Ann's career in 2000, apart from the release of her own album, was when she and Benjamin Biolay wrote the majority of tracks on Henri Salvador's acclaimed new album "Chambre avec vue". Salvador's album scored a huge hit with the record-buying public in France, selling 600,000 copies within a few months of its release. This boosted Keren Ann's reputation to such an extent that she is now considered as one of the leading singer/songwriters on the contemporary French music scene.

Keren Ann Meets an Idol

In February 2001 Keren Ann was nominated as "Best Female Newcomer of the Year" at the annual 'Victoires de la musique' awards. While not actually winning an award in her own category, Keren Ann did take some of the credit for 80-year-old Henri Salvador walking away with two awards (for best album and best artist of the year). A few weeks later Keren Ann went on to support Henri Salvador in concert when he performed at the legendary Olympia music-hall in Paris. But the highlight of Keren Ann's career in 2001 was when she got to support her all-time idol, Suzanne Vega, at the Olympia on June 18th and 19th.

Keren Ann devoted the remainder of 2001 to writing new songs and recording her second album, "la Disparition". Released in April 2002, this new album found Keren Ann working in close conjunction with her close friend and musical collaborator Benjamin Biolay. Keren Ann has also been busy recording an album in English (but this particular recording is not scheduled for release before 2003).

During the rest of 2001, the young artist undertook to write and record her second album, "La Disparition", which was released in spring 2002. As private as her first album, it also featured her peculiar timbre, radiating melancholy and sadness. Yet, some very ‘sixties’ arrangements contributed to lighten the general tone of the record. The artist’s faithful friend Benjamin Biolay also took part in the venture.

Keren Ann promoted her record on the French stages and at the Olympia in Paris on October 29th.

Meanwhile, she collaborated on many projects, including a joint venture in 2003 with Bardi Johannsson from the Icelandic band Bang Gang. They released a record entitled "Lady and Bird". Johannsson was also to be heard on "Ending Song" from Keren’s new English-speaking opus entitled ‘Not Going Anywhere’ and released in October. An English adaptation of "La Disparition", the album was faithful to the English-speaking folk tradition.

America

With her career going from strength to strength, Keren Ann was nominated at the “Victoires de la musique” Awards 2004 as Best Female Artist of the Year (a category she had also received a nomination in the previous year). But she failed to walk off with the trophy yet again. At the end of August 2004, Keren Ann went on to release her album "Not Going Anywhere" in the States on the legendary jazz label Blue Note. She followed this up with a series of concerts in the U.S. Keren Ann prolonged her cross-Atlantic connection after this series of concerts, finishing up her new album (which she had started recording in Paris) in New York.

In November 2004, the singer’s fourth solo album, "Nolita" (named after the Manhattan neighbourhood where she spent part of her time) hit record stores. The album featured ten intimate ballads on which the singer recounted her states of heart and mind in French as well as English. “Nolita” also found Keren Ann experimenting with a series of new instruments. (Having had to keep her arm in plaster after a fall the singer had taken the opportunity to try out other instruments apart from the guitar). “Nolita” also featured an impressive list of guest artists including Bardi Johansson (the Icelandic star with whom she had already recorded in the past) and jazz musicians such as trumpeter Avishai Cohen and harmonica-player Jean-Jacques Milteau. Guy Chambers (one of the composers behind one-man hit-machine Robbie Williams) also made a contribution.

Following the release of "Nolita" in France, Keren Ann's new album also came out in the U.S., Canada, Asia and, a little later, in the U.K. In April and May 2005, Keren Ann performed a number of concerts in France including La Cigale, in Paris (25 April). Then, she headed off to the U.S. for fifteen dates in June and July. On 3 October, fans turned out in force to support her at the legendary Olympia in Paris.

2007 : "Keren Ann"

Based in New York, the singer went on to prepare material for a new album, which this time round was exclusively written in English. The album, entitled simply "Keren Ann", was released in France in April 2007, then the U.S. and Canada before finally hitting record stores in Germany and the U.K. Travelling a middle road between American folk tradition and contemporary pop, Keren Ann widened her horizons on this new album, which turned out to be a less intimate work than "Nolita." The songs on the new album, all concocted in the comfort of her home studio, were mixed by producer Joe Barresi (renowned for his work with Keren Ann's favourite groups such as Queens of the Stone Age).

Keren Ann hit the road again soon afterwards for a new series of concerts which included a performance at the Olympia, in Paris (5 May 2007). Then, in June, she played a series of dates across North America.

After finishing her tour, Keren Ann got down to several different projects, including producing albums by Emmanuelle Seigner ("Dingue") and Sylvie Vartan ("Soleil bleu") with her sidekick Doriand. She also got back to work with Lady & Bird, creating the opera "Red Waters" with Bardi Johannsson, a love story between a brother and sister written with Björk’s wordsmith, the Icelandic poet Sjón.
 
2011: "101"

Between March and September 2010, Keren Ann delivered a sixth album that was released in February 2011. Its title, "101", was a reference to: the 101 floors of a high-rise building in Taipei in Taiwan; psalm number 101 in the Old Testament, the Franco-Israeli’s favourite book; and the number of the ambulance emergency number in Israel, which she had used frequently because of the serious illness that had struck her father while she was recording the record.
 
Sad, inward-looking and delicate, the disk oscillates between gentle ballads and jollier numbers. Electro is still on the menu, on tracks sung in English and inspired by the worlds of Tarantino and Hitchcock. The cover sets the scene, with Keren Ann posing like a robber with a large pistol in her hand.
 
The brunette quickly launched into a series of concerts to play the ten tracks on “101” to a live audience. On 24 and 25 May 2011, she was at the Cigale in Paris, and in June she set off for the USA and Canada.
 
June 2011

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