Geraldine de Haas, a vivacious vocalist and pioneering jazz impresario who shaped Chicago's jazz scene 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.
Born Geraldine Wideman, later Bey, on January 16, 1935, in Newark, NJ, she was the seventh of nine children. She gained international acclaim as a member of the sibling group Andy and The Bey Sisters, blending jazz, gospel, and soul. The group recorded three albums for RCA Victor and Prestige, and their sophisticated style foreshadowed later vocal groups like The Manhattan Transfer and Take 6. They toured Europe for 16 months, performing at the Paris Blue Note and even appearing in a jam session with Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clarke, filmed by Roger Vadim.
After the group disbanded in 1967, de Haas moved to Chicago in 1968 with her husband, bassist Edgar de Haas. While raising a family, she joined the Free Street Theater and performed in productions like Hair and Showboat. In the early seventies, she began producing jazz events. When Duke Ellington died in 1974, she organized an influential tribute concert in Grant Park that united the city's jazz community and evolved into the now-famous Chicago Jazz Festival. Howard Reich, former Chicago Tribune jazz critic, noted, "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."
In 1981, she founded Jazz Unites, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing jazz to the public and encouraging the genre as a form of cultural and personal expression. She served as its CEO and President. She also produced the 1983 South Shore Jazz Festival and worked as the Director of Performing Arts and Access Programs for the Illinois Arts Council from 1983 to 1993. Her efforts earned her numerous accolades, including the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Chicago Jazz Magazine, and a 2010 Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.
Two-time Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling remembered her as a mentor: "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.'" Chicago vocalist Tammy McCann added, "Her outstanding talents soared without an ounce of ego or competition, only collaboration and excellence."
In 2013, de Haas and her husband moved to Lambertville, NJ, to be closer to their children. She is survived by her son Darius, daughter Aisha, son-in-law Kyle Rudy, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Edgar, brother Andy Bey, and sister Salome Bey. For de Haas, the key was to bring the best of the world to her community, as 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.
