A Jazz legend with a very non-musical biography is being celebrated this week with a special tribute concert at the JVC Jazz Festival. NY1's Stephanie Simon caught up with the staple of the jazz scene, Phoebe Jacobs.

She doesn't sing; she doesn't compose; she doesn't even play an instrument, but Phoebe Jacobs is one of the great women of jazz.

She started as a hat check girl in her family's nightclub. Jacobs later became Louis Armstrong's publicist. Over the years she knew and worked with all the jazz legends, including Sarah Vaughn.

“My uncle owned a night club and when I worked in the night club, Sarah would say to me, ÎGee do you know where I can get my dress shortened’ or Îwhere can I have my nails done?’ They use to ask me things and I would do them for them. Then over the years they began to count on me.”

Even in her late 80's Jacob's continues to be a mover and shaker on the jazz scene. She is the steward of Louis Armstrong's legacy. We caught up with her at a lunchtime concert series at the Atrium of the Tourneau Time Machine.

“They have a gorgeous exhibit downstairs and this year they picked what I love the most: Sarah, Ella, Dina and Billy and I happen to have a lot of material on it. I made my contribution, so naturally I came here to see my stuff,” says Jacobs.

Downstairs is an exhibit of Phoebe's old friends: Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Dina Washington, and Billy Holiday. She lent a needle point pillow that she made for Vaughn's 50th birthday.

“The other thing I gave them was a picture I cherished with Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald that was taken in 1962, at Ella Fitzgerald’s birthday party,” says Jacobs.

If you think Phoebe lives in the past, well that's not the case. We caught up with her at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where she was taking in a set by celebrated pianist, Eric Reed.

“Any musician who doesn't know Phoebe Jacobs is somebody who is still yet to be known himself,” says Reed.

Music has been a part of Jacobs’ life forever, but she's not just a fan, she's family.

“This is like one of my children,” says Jacobs, meaning Reed. “’Cause I’m watching him grow and develop.”

While she is so often behind the scene, Phoebe will be honored on her 89th birthday with a concert Thursday night at the Danny Kaye playhouse as part of the JVC Jazz Festival.

Meanwhile, she's busy working on projects for the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, and of course, catching more than a few shows.

JVC Jazz Festival
The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
695 Park Avenue at 68th Street
June 19 to 21 at 8:00 p.m.
(212) 772-4448
Tickets are $45

Oris Celebrates 10th Annual Concert Series with Four Ladies of Jazz
Celebrating Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald
Lunchtime Performances
Tuesdays noon to 2 p.m.
Atrium of the Tourneau TimeMachine
57th and Madison Avenue

— Stephanie Simon