Ben l'Oncle Soul

Ben l'Oncle Soul (born Benjamin Duterde, in 1984) is a French soul singer and songwriter. After graduating in 2004, he started singing in a gospel group called Fitiavana. He often wears a bow tie like Uncle Ben from Uncle Ben's Rice. His friends called him l'Oncle Ben, but he decided to change it in 2009, shortly before the release of his first maxi single, Soul Wash, to avoid copyright problems. His eponymous debut album was released by Motown Records in 2010. On 25 June 2011 Ben L'Oncle Soul opened the 32nd edition of the Montreal Jazz Festival in a major free concert for more than 10,000 people at the Scène TD de la place des Festivals in the heart of Montreal. The concert was his third appearance in Montreal having performed at the 2010 FrancoFolies and at the 2011 Montréal High Lights Festival. He performed at North Sea Jazz Festival on 9 July 2011, and appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on BBC 2 on 21 October 2011. As part of the London Jazz Festival, he played at The Queen Elizabeth Hall in the Southbank Centre, London, on 12 November 2011.