Jane Jarvis dies at 94
Sad news today as I read that Jane Jarvis has died. She had a long-spanning career, which included a stint as NY Mets pianist and was a great jazz musician.
Ms. Jarvis’s career was bracketed by jazz, which she considered her first love: she formed a jazz band in her native Indiana as a teenager, and she worked steadily as a jazz pianist, mostly in New York, from her mid-60s into her 90s. But for more than two decades she was best known as a ballpark organist.
After eight years playing for the Braves at County Stadium in Milwaukee, she was a fixture at Shea Stadium from 1964 to 1979, performing a repertory that mixed jazz staples like Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple From the Apple” with more conventional fare like “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Meet the Mets.”
“I wasn’t a sports fan, and I was uncertain about doing it,” she told The New York Times in 1984. “But money overcame my worries.” By the time she began her long tenure with the Mets, 10 years later, she had become a knowledgeable and enthusiastic baseball devotee.
Few Mets fans knew that Ms. Jarvis had begun her career as a jazz pianist. Even fewer knew that she had a day job with the Muzak Corporation.
After leaving Muzak and the Mets, Ms. Jarvis spent her time as a jazz musician, recording her first solo album in 1985 when she was 70 years old.
Despite health problems, Ms. Jarvis continued to perform and record into the 21st century, both as a bandleader and with the Statesmen of Jazz, an ensemble consisting mostly of musicians over 65. She was the only woman in the group.
“I figure I’ve got another 25 years,” she told The Indianapolis Star in 1999. “At least I’ve got 25 years booked out.”
R.I.P. Ms. Jarvis, you were one hell of a lady.
