After years of being compared to Uncle Ben (yes, the popular character on the rice brand) by his friends because of striking resemblance, which he embraced with bow-tie in tow. Duterde paid homage by professionally adopting the name Ben L’Oncle Soul (and by adding ‘soul’, he was able to avoid any issues regarding copyright infringement).
In 2004 Duterde began professional singing in the gospel group, Fitiavana. The group recorded their debut album “I Have a Dream” in 2009 which featured a number of soul classics sung in English including “Killing Me Softly”, “Lean On Me” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”. Meanwhile, Duterde had also started making progress on solo career when the French division of Motown offered a recording contract.
Under the name Ben L’Oncle Soul, Duterde released his debut EP “Soul Wash: Lesson 1” through Motown. Featuring mostly cover material with a 60’s retro feel running throughout, the EP included Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy, Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” and the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”.
In 2010 he released his full length self-titled album sung in both English and French and included the singles “Soulman”, “Petite Sœur” and “Elle Me Dit”. Peaking at number four in the French album charts, the album also certified triple platinum.
The following year Duterde opened the 32nd Montreal Jazz Festival and captivated an audience of over 10,000. He has also made appearances at North Sea Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival.
Seeing French soul singer Ben l'Oncle Soul live is one of those unique experiences that you can never quite put your finger on. It's hard to describe everything about how great it was and what it meant to me.
Ben performed a great soul song with tons of emotion and powerful feeling behind it. It was one of those songs that just gets to you, right in your soul (which I guess makes soul music an apt description for it). He did an excellent job of building anticipation in the song while still creating an excellent song to listen to at the same time.As he got into the swing of things the crowd got very rowdy and excited about the music and beats that he created and provided for us.
Everyone was happy to jump up and down, clap, sing along, and otherwise be a lively and engaged audience. Ben talked to the audience as he sang his excellent soul tunes, keeping them right there with him, in the mood he wanted them in.
I would highly recommend seeing a Ben l'Oncle Soul concert to everyone that is interested in soul music. Even if you do not speak French, he speaks a universal language through his music.
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