Concert in your area for Pop, Electronic, Folk & Blues, Jazz, Comedy, Reggae, and Funk & Soul.
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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.
Funky guitar plus Congo drums plus quirky lyrics equals one of the most fun shows you could possible ever attend, all thanks to the band Deluxe. The collective quirky-ness of each member is a reflected into the music, resulting in a dance your pants off good time.
The stage is setup so that when the show starts; you can’t actually see the stage, just the curtain behind all the instruments. You hear the first notes being played for “My Game,” then a spotlight goes on to focus solely on the funky guitar that starts up the song. Then another spotlight goes on when the Congos start to be played, leading up to the last spotlight for the vocals. As they reach the height right before the chorus the whole stage lights up behind them with red flashing lights. Epic. Amazing that that’s just the beginning of the show. They continue to give high energy, so much so that you feel like the music completely takes over you, and no matter how good or bad, you start to dance and let it flow through you. Their between song conversation with each other and the audience just reinforces how great of a time they have making music together.
Any suggestion that it’s perhaps not the best idea for romantically involved couples to work together professionally is shot down by Amadou and Mariam; the pair have now been making music together for four decades, and recording since the early eighties. Both blind, the pair went from playing shows across their native Mali in the seventies and eighties to eventually outstripping their local scene and moving to Paris, where they signed a major record deal and sold over one hundred thousand copies of their first release. They’d go on to enjoy further acclaim in the early noughties, when they began collaborating with the world-renowned Manu Chao, who produced a record for them in 2004. In 2006, they recorded the official anthem for the FIFA World Cup in Germany, and accordingly topped the charts in that nation. More recently, they’ve worked with the likes of Damon Albarn, played three nights at the O2 Arena in London in support of Scissor Sisters, and played at major Western festivals like Latitude in Suffolk and Lollapalooza in Chicago. Their frankly joyous live show serves as a beautiful summation of their sound and attitude; as an introduction to the music of the African continent, you could do much worse than Amadou and Mariam.