Hal Roach learned to play piano on a piece of cardboard, because his father was a Mississippi church choir director and wouldn’t let him learn non-spiritual music. When the Ku Klux Klan threatened the family’s home, they joined the African-American exodus to Chicago. Here, musicians taught him the keyboard rudiments, and he landed at the South Side’s Friendly Autoworkers Club, for 75 cents a night. But Roach didn’t earn “fixture” status until 1968, when Eli Schulman, of Eli’s the Place for Steaks, gave him a regular gig. Thirty-three years later, Roach still plays just about any piano-bar standard, as he will on Saturday when Eli’s will be offering 33nd anniversary cheesecake to all diners. The celebration will wrap up on Monday when local VIPs will serenade Roach as he tickles the ivories at Eli’s, 215 E. Chicago Ave. Free. 312-642-1393.
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