Ana Serrano van der Laan is a singer-songwriter born in Madrid, Spain. She composes in English, Spanish and Swedish, with a smattering of French.
Biography
Born in Madrid, Spain, in 1967, she grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, in a trilingual home. She moved to England during her adolescence and later to Spain, where she studied English Philology. She also began her musical career in Spain, taping and performing with a wide variety of Spanish-language artists, among them Javier Álvarez, Sergio Dalma, Jorge Drexler, Diego Vasallo, Christina Rosenvinge and David Broza. In her first two CDs, she appeared under the pseudonym Rita Calypso for Siesta, an independent label in collaboration with producer Ramón Leal. With Siesta she participated in other projects, among them as part of the pop duo Magic Whispers. Rita developed a certain following in the indie scene after her first CD, "Apocalypso." In her first solo CD, Ana Laan recorded her own songs with Juan Campodónico, Luciano Supervielle and Jorge Drexler, and coproduced the album with Leo Sidran. The CD was published in the United States in 2004 and in Argentina in 2005, to rave reviews in both countries. The response prompted a series of concerts in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and Buenos Aires, along with a showcase in the 2005 Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York. In December 2004 the Chicago Tribune lists her album Oregano among the top 10 best Latin recordings of the year. Her song "Para el dolor", the second track in "Oregano," was included in "Music From the Wine Lands" a compilation by Putumayo World Music, a New York City-based record label. The album also won the Independent Music Award for the best Latin album. In 2005 she separated from Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler. She spent the summer of 2006 in New York recording her second disk, "Chocolate and Roses", also produce with Leo Sidran. Although her Latin roots are still evident in this collection, her compositions include more songs with lyrics in English, a little French, along with several bilingual English-Spanish songs and a Swedish pop song. She is accompanied by Phil Mossman, Matías Cella, Michael Leonhart, Ramón Leal and Javier Álvarez. This album was presented at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, in March 2007 and in August she went on a brief tour throughout the United States.
