Jacobs has spent her life as a jazz enthusiast. She has also spent her career as a publicist and public relations consultant in the world of jazz. She was born in the Bronx in New York City into a family of music lovers and musicians. Her uncle owned several Manhattan jazz clubs. She began her association with jazz working as a hat check girl in one of those clubs, "Kelly's Stable." She then worked at Decca Records with Sy Oliver and met a number of jazz musicians including Duke Ellington. Jacobs has held positions as director of public relations for Basin Street East (another club her uncle owned), the Rainbow Room and the Rainbow Grill. Through it all, she established and maintained friendships, and often worked with jazz legends including Benny Goodman, Eubie Blake, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and, most closely, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.