Jazz vocalist leads tuneful life in Flagler Beach
When jazz vocalist Linda Cole arrives at the Cue Note billiard room in Palm Coast for the Sunday Jazz Rendezvous, no one knows what she’ll be singing — not even members of the band.
Every show is different. The only constant is that each set will include tunes from the Great American Songbook.
To pull that off, the bandleader and her band have to really know their stuff.
Cole, 69, lives in Flagler Beach and has been entertaining people with her singing since she was three. The eldest of seven children, she was born into a musical family. Her father, James Cole, a cousin of singer Nat King Cole, played piano and sang. Her mother, Erma, sings and writes songs and poetry. Linda Cole learned to play piano, read and write music at the age of seven. She also became the family’s accompanist.
The Singing Cole Family, which ultimately included all of Cole’s siblings, performed throughout the Midwest for many years from their home in Freeport, Illinois. When she was 19, she was invited to sing with a band at a local club.
“That was life changing,” she said. “When the band moved to Detroit in 1970, I went with them. Oh my, Motown! That’s what you did in Detroit in the '70s. That’s where I was introduced to the world.”
She credits the lessons and values her parents instilled at home for keeping her safe, even as Detroit became more dangerous for her.
“I would not comply with the demands females had to carry out to be a star,” she said. After 10 years in Detroit, she moved to Los Angeles.
Although Cole never stopped singing on stage, she also had a “day job.”
“I worked days and sang at night. That probably saved my life,” she said. “Working allowed me to take care of myself. I didn’t have to rely on entertainment and singing to have a place to live.”
She said she “typed like the wind” and had a successful career as a legal secretary.
Finding her 'destiny'
It wasn’t until Cole moved to Florida in 1991 that she started focusing primarily on jazz.
“When I arrived in Daytona Beach, it suddenly came to me that this was my destiny: to celebrate the great American songbook and the great American art form — jazz,” said Cole.
For more than 25 years, Cole has sung with orchestras, jazz bands, and as a solo performer at a variety of venues for a wide range of audiences throughout Florida. She continues to do so.
But on Sunday afternoons, she becomes the undisputed "Queen of the Cue Note" as she holds court for jazz lovers who come from all over northeast Florida to listen to the music. Cole banters with band members and dazzles the audience with her signature bling, telling the stories behind the music.
“Linda is just amazing,” said Mica Bethea, co-owner of the Cue Note and leader of his own big band. “I’d seen her do her shtick — sing, tells stories, interacts with the audience — several times and I knew it was perfect for an afternoon lunch show.
“People, especially those who are avid jazz aficionados, are amazed by Linda and the communication that she has with the rhythm section and the way each song is organic and has a life of its own,” Bethea said.
On the spot
The communication among the players is remarkable — especially considering that each musician gets the show’s set list and lead sheets only when Cole steps up to the microphone. There are no rehearsals. All of the music is improvised, in true jazz fashion.
“This is live, not Memorex,” Cole said in a reference most likely lost on members of today's digital music generation. “Creating our own arrangements on the spot with the ensemble is more exciting to me than anything else in my life.”
The Linda Cole Trio consists of Aaron Lehrian on grand piano and Lawrence Buckner on double bass. They perform every Sunday with the exception of the last Sunday of the month. Twice a month, the trio becomes a quartet with the addition of drummer Stefan Klein. Additionally, special guest performers make an appearance.
Ben Leaderman and his wife, Rickie, regularly drive from St. Augustine to Palm Coast for Cue Note’s Sunday Jazz Rendevous. Cole refers to him as the Cue Note’s in-house jazz consultant.
“There’s something magical about the players there. They haven’t got a clue as to what that music is going to sound like at the end,” said Leaderman. “In the 18 to 20 months that I’ve been coming down there, I find Linda more amazing every week. It amazes me that she’s willing to walk the tightrope without a net.
“It can be the same players, but it’s a different experience every time you go,” he said. “It’s totally magical, mystical.“