Jane Jarvis | |
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Jarvis in 1984
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Background information | |
Birth name | Louella Jane Nossette |
Born |
Vincennes, Indiana, U.S. |
October 31, 1915
Died | January 25, 2010 Englewood, New Jersey |
(aged 94)
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, programmer for Muzak |
Instruments | Piano, organ |
Jane Nossette Jarvis (October 31, 1915 – January 25, 2010) was an American jazz pianist. She was also known for her work as a composer,baseball stadium organist, and music industry executive.
Jarvis was born in Vincennes, Indiana, to Charles and Luella Nossette. She was recognized as a piano prodigy at the age of five and she studied under a Vincennes University professor as a young girl. Her family moved to Gary, Indiana soon afterward, and Jarvis was hired to play the piano at radio station WJKS in Gary in 1927. At the age of 13, she was orphaned when her parents died in a train-auto wreck and she returned to Vincennes, graduating from high school in 1932. By then, she had already studied music at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, the Bush Conservatory of Music, Loyola University Chicago and DePauw University.
By 1954, Jarvis was on television at station WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, hosting a show called "Jivin' with Jarvis" while serving as staff pianist and organist. At the time, the Milwaukee Braves had just relocated from Boston and sought out Jarvis to be the organist at Milwaukee County Stadium. In a 1984 interview, Jarvis told John S. Wilson of The New York Times that she asked when she would get to perform and a Braves official replied, "When the umpire says 'Three outs.'" Jarvis, a sports neophyte, then asked, "And when would that be?"
Jarvis stayed with the Braves for eight seasons and then went to New York City, where she took a position with the Muzak Corporation as a staff composer and arranger. She would rise to become a corporate vice-president and its director of recording and programming.