News Release
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs

Maxim’s: The Nancy Goldberg International Center, 24 E. Goethe Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60610 * 312-742-1748
www.maximschicago.org * Press Contact: Pat Matsumoto at 312 744-1422

Conversations with Extraordinary People Presents
Geraldine de Haas and Rick Kogan on Jazz and the Music of
the Duke, the Count, the King and the Lady
Wednesday, February 23, 6 pm
Maxim's: The Nancy Goldberg International Center, 24 E. Goethe Street

(February 2, 2005) -- The influence of jazz royalty -- the King, the Duke, the Lady and the Prez -- and other African American composers and musicians on the Great American Song Book will be among the entertaining topics of "Conversations with Extraordinary People" in honor of African American History Month. The program will be presented on Wednesday, February 23, at Maxim’s: The Nancy Goldberg International Center, 24 E. Goethe, at 6 pm.

Chicago's "jazz lady" Geraldine de Haas joins host Rick Kogan to explore the music of Duke Ellington and his contemporaries Count Basie, Nat "King" Cole, Lady Day, and the Prez Lester Young. The Jazz lady will recall her many on stage experiences with such other jazz legends as Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, and her favorite bass player Ray Brown.

"Geraldine de Haas in Conversation with Rick Kogan" begins at 6 pm. Tickets are $20, and reservations may be made by calling 312.742.1748.

As a young woman, Geraldine de Haas performed as Gerry Bey with her brother and sister in a group known as Andy and the Bey Sisters. The group was wildly popular in Europe where they performed at the world famous Blue Note in Paris and were featured in a jazz film directed by Roger Vadim. De Haas and her siblings returned to the United States in 1960 and began performing at jazz clubs and festivals across the country, and made several recordings, as well. In the early 1970s Geraldine joined the Free Street Theater in Chicago, and her theater career continued over the next two decades, with performances in Hair, Showboat and To Be Young, Gifted and Black, and numerous jazz performances, as well. She also began producing events during the 1970s, and in 1983, she presented the first Jazzfest at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago, which continues on to this day. In 1981, de Haas founded Jazz Unites, Inc. to further the growth and appreciation of jazz, and to educate people through the use of jazz. Since 1993, she has served as the president, CEO and artistic director.

Rick Kogan is the host of WGN's "Sunday Papers with Rick Kogan" (6:30-9am Sundays), and senior writer and Sidewalks columnist for the Chicago Tribune's Sunday Magazine. A fascinating storyteller, he has written eight books, including Yesterday's Chicago, written in collaboration with his father, the distinguished Chicago journalist, the late Herman Kogan.

Conversations with Extraordinary People is a monthly program series presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The program is taped for replay at 9pm, Tuesdays, on Cable25, the Pulse of Chicago. Food and wine are served courtesy of Fornetto Mei Restaurant, located in The Whitehall Hotel, 107 E. Delware. Parking for patrons of Maxim's available for $10 at 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive.