Jane Jarvis

Jane Jarvis (b. Jane Nossette in Vincennes, October 3, 1915 - d. Engelwood, New Jersey, January 25, 2010) – Pianist, organist, composer, and business executive. At the tender age of five, Jarvis distinguished herself as a gifted piano student. After a move to Gary, she became a staff pianist for a local radio station (WJKS) at age twelve. Also at age twelve, she composed the school song for Gary Emerson High School. After her parents died in an automobile accident when she was thirteen, she moved back to Vincennes to live with other family members and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1932. Presumably starting in the 1950s, Jarvis played the organ for eight seasons at the home games of the Milwaukee Braves. From 1964 to 1979, she was the organist for the New York Mets, therfore being a part of the historical 1969 “miracle” season. During her tenure at Shea stadium, she was known for her own version of the “Mexican Hat Dance” during the seventh inning stretch. Overlapping with her organ job, she worked in New York MUSAK as a staff composer and arranger before becoming corporate vice president and director of recording and programming. Following her retirement from MUSAK and the Mets organization in the late 1970s, her primary focus became jazz piano, and she often played with legendary bassist Milt Hinton. She has also collaborated with Lionel Hampton, Zoot Sims, Doc Severinsen, and Clark Terry. In 1994, she became a founding member of the Statesmen of Jazz (a 65 and over group) affiliated with the American Federation of Jazz Society. In October 12, 2008, Jarvis and trombonist Benny Powell (also of Statesmen of Jazz) were honored at the All Nite Soul Jazz Festival at New York’s St. Peter’s Church. Recently relocated to Cocoa Beach, Florida, 93 year-old Jarvis has three hundred compositions registered with ASCAP and has recorded several CDs of her own music.