Beloved Singer and Producer Geraldine de Haas,The Queen of Chicago Jazz, Passes Away at 91

The vivacious vocalist sang with her famous sibling group Andy and The Bey Sisters and went on to become a festival impresario in Chicago

NEW YORK, NY, August 01, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Geraldine de Haas, a vivacious vocalist who sang with her famous sibling group Andy and The Bey Sisters in the fifties and sixties and became a pioneering impresario and tireless jazz patron in Chicago for over four decades, died of natural causes on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at Englewood Health Hospital, it was announced by her son, actor/singer Darius de Haas. She was 91.

Although Mrs. de Haas was a part of an internationally-acclaimed family group that brilliantly blended jazz, gospel and soul stylings, it was her indefatigable and affirmative leadership as a jazz presenter, producer and advocate that extended her positive influence and legacy across several generations in The Windy City.

"Geraldine de Haas was one of the most inspired and influential impresarios that Chicago – and jazz itself – has ever had. The Duke Ellington tribute concert she created in Chicago's Grant Park in 1974 made possible the now-famous Chicago Jazz Festival," said Howard Reich, Emmy Award-winning author and former Chicago Tribune jazz critic. "That de Haas also was a world-class singer who could spin and stretch a melody line a la Sarah Vaughan made her a Chicago treasure wherever she performed. Chicago's cultural life would have been much diminished were it not for de Haas' tireless and selfless efforts on behalf of America's original art form, jazz."

Born Geraldine Wideman, later Bey, on January 16, 1935, in Newark, NJ, she was the seventh of nine children. A graduate of West Side High School, she was a founding member of the combo, Andy and the Bey Sisters, comprised of herself, sister Salome and brother Andy. Their first major gig was at Miami's Cotton Club in 1957, and they were managed by Newport Jazz Festival founder/producer George Wein.

The group's sophisticated and soulful blend of jazz and jazz-adjacent genres foreshadowed groups like The Manhattan Transfer and Take 6 by several decades. The combo recorded three albums for the RCA Victor and Prestige labels: Andy and the Bey Sisters, Now! Hear! and 'Round Midnight. They embarked on a 16-month European tour that included an engagement at the Paris Blue Note, a performance in a jam session featuring the legendary bebop drummer Kenny Clarke and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, filmed by filmmaker Roger Vadim and featured in the Chet Baker film, Let's Get Lost. The group disbanded in 1967.

After the trio's European tour, and back in the U.S., Bey met the Indonesia-born, Netherlands-raised bassist Edgar de Haas. He performed with Chet Baker, Don Byas and Zoot Sims in Europe, moved to the U.S. in 1957, worked with Miles Davis, formed his own quartet in 1962, and toured with Peter, Paul & Mary and Johnny Mathis. Bey and de Haas married, and moved to Chicago in 1968, where de Haas worked as the house bassist at The Jazz Showcase.

While de Haas was raising a family in Chicago, she joined the city's Free Street Theater, and performed in several stage productions including Hair, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, Showboat and To Be Young, Gifted and Black. In the early seventies, de Haas started producing jazz events. When Duke Ellington died in 1974, she produced an influential Ellington tribute at Grant Park that united the Chicago jazz community and evolved into the Chicago Jazz Festival. The resounding success of that first Ellington tribute paved the way for other music festivals in the city. As de Haas told the PBS show Chicago Tonight, "they saw where many people from every corner of this city gathered to hear this wonderful music."

Two-time Grammy winning vocalist Kurt Elling, stated, "I am deeply saddened by the loss of my dear friend and mentor, Geraldine de Haas. As much as anyone of stature on the Chicago scene, she welcomed and encouraged me in my early years. In her gracious way, and by the example of her own performances, she showed me how to carry myself on stage, how to work with instrumentalists, how to connect with audiences, and how to sing 'the real thing.' Her extraordinarily soulful recordings with her sister Salome and her brilliant brother Andy Bey are essential listening for any true connoisseur of jazz singing."

In 1980, Mrs. de Haas earned a B.A. degree in music education from Chicago State University. In 1981, she founded Jazz Unites, Inc., a not-for-profit organization created to bring jazz to the public and encourage the genre as a form of cultural and personal expression. She also served as its CEO and President.

Mrs. de Haas produced and presented jazz festivals and performances, including the 1983 South Shore Jazz Festival, aka The Jazz Fest Heritage Weekend, and she served as the Director of Performing Arts and Access Programs for the Illinois Arts Council, from 1983-1993. Although she primarily focused on her work as a jazz producer, organizer and mentor, de Haas also recorded several locally produced recordings, which featured her big band renditions of songs by Gino Vannelli and Paul Anka.

Mrs. de Haas received numerous citations and awards for her work in Chicago's jazz community. She was awarded The Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award, a Mannes/New School Duke Ellington Scholarship in her name, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Chicago Jazz Magazine, The Paul Robeson Award and a 2010 Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.

"We have lost someone so extraordinarily special. Geraldine de Haas made an impact in Chicago that will reverberate for years to come. She saw something in me and other young artists and elevated the level of our performance in such a thoughtful way. Her outstanding talents soared without an ounce of ego or competition, only collaboration and excellence," said Chicago vocalist Tammy McCann.

In 2013, de Haas and her husband moved from Chicago to Lambertville, NJ, to be closer to their children. Mrs. de Haas is survived by her son Darius, her daughter, singer/actress Aisha de Haas, her son-in-law, Kyle Rudy and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband and jazz bassist Edgar de Haas (1930-2022), her brother Andy Bey (1939-2025) and her sister Salome Bey (1933-2020).

For Mrs. de Haas, the main imperative for her tireless years of service was to expose jazz to everyone. "The key for me was to bring the best of the world to our community," de Haas told Dr. Gloria Latimore-Peace on The H30 Art of Life TV show. "People need to see what we have given to this world. That's the only reason why I work."

Arrangements for a celebration of Geraldine de Haas will be announced later.

Read the full story here: https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/537374/beloved-singer-and-producer-geraldine-de-haasthe-queen-of-chicago-jazz-passes-away-at-91

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