At age 3, Linda Cole, (relative of Nat 'King' Cole) of the Singing Coles Family Dynasty, began singing with her father and mother, James (relative of Nat King Cole) and Erma (sister to Globe Trotter Deacon Davis) Cole in Freeport, Illinios. In the following years, as the family added six more singing Cole children, Linda became instrumental in the formation of the "Singing Cole Family"; known throughout central United States. The "Singing Cole Family" was honored by the Illinois History magazine in 1963 and 1965.
After decades of performing from Motown to Jazz, and with acts like the Count Basie Band, Ms. Cole is a self appointed ambassador for the preservation of the Great American Songbook and the education of the world renowned classical artform; Jazz.
Linda has been instrumental in raising the level of visibility for appreciation of the arts in Central and Northeast Florida. She gives her time and gift to area victims of crime, domestic violence advocates, rape crisis centers and child advocacy agencies.
Ms. Cole has been an active member of Governing Board at the Fitzgerald Center For the Performing Arts, in Palm Coast, Florida, for over a decade and a half.
In 2025 she was inducted into the Central Florida Jazz Society Hall Of Fame!
The Alley Cats with Thom Chambers and Linda Cole will bring musical perspectives reflecting decades of experience on the Florida music scene.
The Alley Cats are an instrumental group that started performing in Downtown DeLand on Artisan Alley during the COVID pandemic, offering a way for people to gather safely for free concerts outdoors.
For the Jazz Fest, the group will be joined by retired band director, composer, multi-instrumentalist and widely respected saxophonist Chambers, a veteran of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and hundreds more concerts. Cole, also well known to Central Florida jazz fans, comes from a family of musicians; her father was one of the Cole Family Singers, and her father's second cousin was Nat King Cole. She grew up playing the piano and singing gospel with her family, and has continued to delight audiences across the state with her classy demeanor and delivery. Cole will be inducted this year into the Central Florida Jazz Society Hall of Fame.
Pianist Adam Kornecki and his trio will play jazz inspired by styles ranging from bebop to the post jazz/rock fusion era. The trio consists of Kornecki on piano, Jarobi Watts on bass, and David Weatherspoon on drums, with the addition of vocalist Jodi-Ann Taylor.
Kornecki said he finds inspiration in the music of all of the masters, including Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans, and he hastened to recognize the influence of the more contemporary, and versatile, Brad Mehldau. Asked about his approach to his music, Kornecki said he feels like it is very much about the fundamentals.
“I keep it simple, like the blues, but with an understanding of jazz harmony. We will just lean into playing a really great concert,” Kornecki said.
Taylor's performance with the trio will present a different facet of the genre. Taylor's repertoire is generally the more popular standards, such as Gershwin's Summertime, or Porter's Night and Day. Taylor may also delve into gospel, particularly with songs she recently wrote and recorded for her 2024 album, All Creation Sings.
The 16-piece instrumental orchestra specializes in playing the charts written by internationally acclaimed jazz musician Sam Rivers for his Rivbea Orchestra. Many of the Rejuvenation members played with Rivers' group before Rivers’ death in 2011.
The orchestra is led by bassist Doug Matthews and Mike Iapichino. The band's sound is built on the funk style of the bass and drums, accentuated by energetic, sometimes dissonant brass and sax sections.
Rejuvenation's catalog of music was composed by Rivers beginning in the 1960s. He moved from New York to Central Florida in the 1990s, when he put together a band made up largely of music educators and members of the Walt Disney World musical community. The body of work was recognized in the late 1999s with two Grammy nominations.
Quin Killin’ is an alumnus of the University of South Florida and Stetson University whose work is featured in The Bitchin’ Kitsch’s January 2025 publication and has been published on YouTube by Arts Axis Florida. They are also the creator, co-founder and editor of the nonprofit organization The Blunt Space, which caters to art for and by marginalized artists and also advocates for social justice and cultural education.
D-Rod, a member of Black on Black Rhyme, founder of Island Vybez Poetry and a co-host for WMNF Tampa’s poetry show “Poetry Is … ,” has been performing in the Tampa area for more than 20 years. He was the 2023 Fall Festival’s grand-slam champion and was ranked ninth in the United States at the 2022 Blackberry Peach National Poetry Slam.
