André Manoukian

André Manoukian, born from Armenian parents, learned the piano and the violin before studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1977. A classically trained pianist, he developed an interest in jazz and formed a big band. In 1983, he discovered singer Liane Foly, for whom he became an accompanist, songwriter, and producer until 1995.
His experience as a session musician in song and jazz, working alongside Michel Petrucciani, Richard Galliano, Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Bécaud, Diane Dufresne, Nicole Croisille, Dick Rivers, Camille Bazbaz, and Malia, led to his role as a judge on the show Nouvelle star (2003-2012), which made him known to the general public.
He founded his own label, “Va Savoir,” under which he released the instrumental album Inkala (2008). In 2010, the album So in Love brought together jazz standards performed by Anaïs, Camélia Jordana, Helena Noguerra, Emily Loizeau, Cocoon, China Moses, and Tété. A television host on La France a un incroyable talent, La Vie secrète des chansons, and the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as a radio columnist and the founder of the Cosmojazz festival in 2010, André Manoukian composes for cinema and has produced the albums Melanchology (2011), Apatride (2017), and Les Pianos de Gainsbourg (2021), featuring Melody Gardot, Isabelle Adjani, Rosemary Standley, Élodie Frégé, Camille Lellouche, and Camélia Jordana.
With his deeply personal album, Anouch, a heartfelt tribute to his grandmother, he shares for the first time through music his origins and history, blending his roots and their memories with what drives him today, creating a majestic, sunny, and accessible album.
Sur les routes de la musique (Harper Collins, 2021) and Sur les routes du jazz (Harper Collins, 2022), adapted into columns on France Inter, have enjoyed considerable success. He recently published Les pouvoirs extraordinaires de la musique (Harper Collins, 2024).