Jane Sager

Jane Sager (1914–2012) was an American big band trumpeter and bandleader. Throughout her career, she played in the bands of Rita Rio, Ada Leonard, Katherine Dunham, Charlie Barnet, and Johnny Richards. She began playing violin at the age of six, and by the age of 14, she began performing in local venues. She attended college for violin, and continued her studies at the American Conservatory of Music. During World War II, the United Service Organizations contracted the orchestra to perform for enlisted troops.

Later life Later in her life, Sager primarily worked as a teacher in her studio. Her students included Roger Tillison, Chet Baker, and Herb Alpert. Flea, another student of Sager, posited in his memoir Acid for the Children that "if Jane had been a man she'd be acclaimed as a great trumpeter, but sexism is a bitch, and she lived in that little apartment on Selma teaching the likes of me..."

In 1997, Sager was granted the Pioneer Award by the International Women's Brass Conference.

She spent her final years in Morro Bay, California. Sager died in 2012.