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That was the scene early Thursday evening at Flatfile, where the hometown ensemble eighth blackbird was raising funds to launch a concert series at the Harris Theater. The gallery’s folding chairs were filled with musical patrons and curious food nerds like myself eager for a look at Molto Mario, but perhaps more anxious about the five-course dinner at Blackbird to follow (OK, I was anyway).
The intentionally lowercased eighth blackbird, which takes its name from a Wallace Stevens poem, has been around for 11 years, the last seven of them in Chicago. You’d think with all the love they’ve received (The New Yorker, The New York Times, NPR, tons more), they’d have a higher local profile, but that’s not the case. “We’re trying to change that,” said pianist Lisa Kaplan, who invited me to the event.
