It was uncanny how Saturday’s Carter Albrecht Memorial Concert mirrored the life of its honoree. Mr. Albrecht, who died Sept. 3, was a social guy, with few walls to ward off strangers. Throughout the evening, dozens of local musicians and scenesters who knew the late songwriter and multi-instrumentalist socialized, and many were poised to allow those outside of that circle in. The mood was light and low-pressure instead of solemn or restrained.

That’s not to say that celebration, mourning and agonizing didn’t occur. But it was fantastically focused, especially in terms of another reason why the evening reflected Mr. Albrecht’s existence the constant stream of lovely local music. Foremost was Sorta, in its first public performance since the death of Mr. Albrecht, who was its keyboardist. Sorta performed only three songs, none of them its own; instead it handed out tunes by the Sparrows, the pre-Sorta project of Mr.

Albrecht and Sorta pedal/slide guitarist Ward Williams. His vocals on “Jose Cuervo” were particularly emphatic, and guitarist Chris Holt performed the set with Mr. Albrecht’s favored red Gretsch hollow-body. Before Sorta’s performance, an array of acts supplied appropriate tributes. Pleasant Grove delivered “Quieter Song,” a sweeping posi-pop exploration that was an Albrecht favorite. Mr.

Holt’s primary project, the Slack, presented several Albrecht originals including “No More Country Living,” a driving roots-pop song that Mr. Albrecht had taught Mr. Holt during Sorta’s last studio rehearsal. “I was obsessed by it,” Mr. Holt said.