Phoebe's Fantasy: The Story of a Mafia Insider Who Helped Rescue Jazz

Was she a member of the Jewish Mafia or was she just another groupie idolizing musical stars? Was she having fantasies of the glamour and glitz of the jazz scene or was she living the harsh realities of it? Phoebes Fantasy attempts to answer these probing questions. Phoebes Fantasy depicts the deep ties among Jews blacks and jazz in the 20th and 21st centuries through the lens of the life and struggles of Phoebe Jacobs. The daughter of a Jewish mafioso she used her connections to organized crime to further the careers of jazz innovators. For more than seven decades Phoebe was a publicist recording contractor lobbyist philanthropist and overall fixer for dozens of clients. They included Louis Armstrong Ella Fitzgerald Sarah Vaughan Duke Ellington Peggy Lee Eubie Blake Benny Goodman Sy Oliver Della Reese Dave Brubeck and Wynton Marsalis--some of the principal creators of jazz. Jazz Americas only true art form has survived in great part because of support from foreign countries including Japan France Israel Germany and Australia. Today jazz is at a crossroads. More than a half century ago Phoebe and the aforementioned countries began a mission to rescue jazz. Will the death of Phoebe Jacobs signal the end of this great music?