Geraldine de Haas, a vivacious vocalist who sang with her sibling group Andy and The Bey Sisters in the 1950s and 1960s 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. She was 91. Her son, actor/singer Darius de Haas, announced her passing.
Although de Haas was part of an internationally acclaimed family group that blended jazz, gospel, and soul, it was her indefatigable leadership as a jazz presenter, producer, and advocate that extended her influence across generations in Chicago. Howard Reich, Emmy Award-winning author and former Chicago Tribune jazz critic, said, "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." He added that her world-class singing and tireless efforts on behalf of jazz made her a Chicago treasure.
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 Andy and the Bey Sisters, with 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 George Wein. The group's sophisticated blend of jazz and adjacent genres foreshadowed groups like The Manhattan Transfer and Take 6. They recorded three albums for RCA Victor and Prestige: Andy and the Bey Sisters, Now! Hear!, and 'Round Midnight. They embarked on a 16-month European tour that included a performance at the Paris Blue Note and a jam session with Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, filmed by Roger Vadim. The group disbanded in 1967.
After the tour, Bey met Edgar de Haas, a Dutch-born bassist who had worked with Miles Davis and others. They married and moved to Chicago in 1968, where Edgar worked as house bassist at The Jazz Showcase. In Chicago, de Haas joined the Free Street Theater and performed in productions including Hair and Showboat. In the early 1970s, she began producing jazz events. When Duke Ellington died in 1974, she produced an influential tribute at Grant Park that united the jazz community and evolved into the Chicago Jazz Festival. As she told PBS's 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 said, "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.'"
In 1980, de Haas earned a B.A. in music education from Chicago State University. In 1981, she founded Jazz Unites, Inc., a not-for-profit organization 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. She produced festivals including the 1983 South Shore Jazz Festival, and served as Director of Performing Arts and Access Programs for the Illinois Arts Council from 1983 to 1993. She recorded several locally produced albums featuring big band renditions of songs by Gino Vannelli and Paul Anka.
De Haas received numerous awards, including 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. Chicago vocalist Tammy McCann said, "We have lost someone so extraordinarily special. Geraldine de Haas made an impact in Chicago that will reverberate for years to come."
In 2013, de Haas and her husband moved to Lambertville, NJ, to be closer to their children. She is survived by her son Darius, her daughter Aisha, and her son-in-law Kyle Rudy. She was preceded in death by her husband Edgar, her brother Andy Bey, and her sister Salome Bey. For de Haas, the main imperative was to expose jazz to everyone. "The key for me was to bring the best of the world to our community," she 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 her life will be announced later.
