Concert Review: Charu Suri’s Keys to a Delicate Touch

New York-based jazz pianist Charu Suri, supported by a quartet of fine jazz musicians, played a unique concert last weekend for a small, but appreciative audience. 

Do women play jazz piano differently from men? One has often idly wondered if there is any substance to this thought. Charu Suri gave us an indication that this might well be the case. Her jazz piano had a subtle, almost delicate touch; Charu seemed to embroider sounds around the notes she was playing. One would love to hear her play solo jazz piano. 

In an evening where Charu played a mixture of originals and jazz standards, she had able support from Arjun Chakravarty on drums, Amandeep Soni on guitar, Shreya Bhattacharya on vocals and Avishek De on the electric bass. Perhaps, the upright acoustic bass would have sounded better in this ensemble. 

After an instrumental introduction to the evening with “Autumn Leaves” and “Manha de Carnaval,” Shreya sang on a few originals from Charu’s songbook, of which “Bluesy” was quite beautiful. Later, “Lollipops for Breakfast,” another Charu original that’s quite delightful, ended the first set. 

Post intermission, the band began with a jazz version of Raag Hemant, which was subtle melodic fusion. Charu’s Indian roots met here with her new jazz instincts, all to pleasing effect. 

The evening concluded with a series of standards that Shreya vocalized – “Blue Skies” and “My Foolish Heart” among others – along with a spontaneous instrumental version of “My Funny Valentine” thanks to an audience request. 

It was a surprise to learn that Charu Suri has been playing jazz for just four years; her performance was that of a seasoned pro. 

Sunil Sampat is a jazz critic and Contributing Editor of Rolling Stone India. Write to Sunil at jazzwala@gmail.com