Songs by Jayati Chakraborty (picture) always jolt her listeners into an alertness about change and tension. This was evident at the Anandadhara event, held recently at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, where she made a forceful entry, signifying many of her songs that build a comfortable mood and upend expectations. Giving her company were Sujoy Prasad Chattopadhyay and Shyamali Acharya. The trio brought an energetic inspiration to their tribute to the legendary Suchitra Mitra. The recital also paid homage to Mitra’s contemporary, Kanika Bandopadhyay.

The curator of the event seemed to have packed in a heavy first half that comprised a memorial lecture, an esraj recital, felicitations and a fairly long homage to Bandopadhyay titled Kanika Japon. The recitations by the students of SPC Kraft explored the spirituality of the narrative. The two singers, Suchanda Ghosh and Srovonti Bosu Bandyopadhyay, began on a shaky note but then overcame the initial hurdles to sail through songs such as “Bon e jodi phutlo kusum”, “Hridaya nandana bone” and “Nilanjana chhaya”. Even though Bandyopadhyay has an excellent timbre in the higher pitch, her fidgety lower range is not comforting to hear at times; “Chhaya ghanaichhe” displayed both her strengths and weaknesses. Ghosh has a raspy voice that needs a hefty application.

The trio was in top form in its tribute, Suchitra Japon, in the second half of the evening. Aided by Chattopadhyay’s storytelling, Chakraborty pummelled her way through “Kothin loha kothin ghume” and “Buk bendhe tui”. Though most of the songs were hauntingly familiar, she steered away from formulaic commercialism and brought the house down with a lovely rendition of the Mitra-Salil Choudhury number, “Hoyto takei krishnakali bole”, which had its own distinctive brilliance.