Description
Infinity Unleashed is an album by the American fusion combo The John Sferra Trio, independently released on Strobie Records in March 2014. Guitar maestro Phil Keaggy joined forces with his Glass Harp bandmate, drummer John Sferra, and keyboardist Jack Giering to create a trilogy of albums highlighting each of the members and named after the respective musician: Inter-Dimensional Traveler by The Phil Keaggy Trio released in 2010, Cosmic Rumpus by The Jack Giering Trio released in 2012, as well as Infinity Unleashed by The John Sferra Trio released in 2014.
Infinity Unleashed is the third in a series of instrumental projects released by a trio featuring legendary guitarist Phil Keaggy, his former Glass Harp bandmate, John Sferra and keyboard virtuoso, Jack Giering. The first two releases highlighted the talents of Keaggy and Giering while the third release shines a spotlight on the talents of Sferra. When speaking of the daunting musicianship of these 3 gentlemen, the word “Unleashed” may be an understatement! Guitars roars, keyboard fills add color and shape and the drums absolutely thunder as these three masters lead us on a roller-coaster ride of jazz/blues/funk/soul music with a little pop sweetener thrown in to help the funky medicine go down smoothly. Infinity Unleased features cameos by session legend, Mark Douthit on saxophone and bass player, Dan Pecchio (to complete the Glass Harp connection) on various tracks but the core trio is the story here, as “infinity” best describes the length of time fans will want this group of musicians to continue making music this good. [Shawn McLaughlin, Christian Musician, September/October 2014]
Infinity Unleashed is the debut album by the John Sferra Trio. It’s also the third in a projected series of three trio albums by the principal players, Jack Giering (keyboards), Phil Keaggy (guitars), and John Sferra (drums). Of course, there are a couple of guests: the legendary Mark Douthit lays down some tasty sax lines on three tracks while Sferra and Keaggy’s old band-mate Daniel Pecchio contributes bass on one. So here you have a debut project by a trio that’s released two previous albums and occasionally enlarges to a quartet and a quintet. Does any of this matter? Not really – I just did that for the Abbot and Costello fans out there. What really matters is this – Giering, Keaggy and Sferra produce some stunningly funky, jazzy bluesy jams, and you’d be well advised to grab yourself a copy of Infinity Unleashed as soon as possible.
For those keeping score, first there was The Phil Keaggy Trio, then The Jack Giering Trio, and now it’s the drummer’s turn – and so we have The John Sferra Trio. As with the previous projects, each of these world-class instrumentalists performs brilliantly. The group self-produced the album and the drums are a little more prominent in the mix this time with more drum breaks scattered throughout than on the first two trio projects.
Keaggy’s guitar work is once again fluid and intricately textured, at times reminding me a bit of Mark Knopfler (parts of «Trio Rock» and snatches elsewhere) but always keeping that fat, juicy Keaggy tone. The rock, funk, blue and jazz chops of this guitar legend are all over the album.
Jack Giering does almost everything you can do on a keyboard (I’m sure that the spirited Jack would come up for a funny line to follow that statement) and also provides a bed of sound that the others play over. Whether playing a funky clavinet effect, like on the title-track, or producing a faux horn section, or laying down jazzy blues chords, like on «Stax the Deck», or «Charang», Jack’s work shines. For a real treat, listen to the way Jack and Phil work off each other on «Astral Flats».
Sferra’s drums on the album are stunning. Right off the bat, the drums are ferocious on the hard-driving opener, «Cognitive Hammer», and the runaway train opening tempo of «Flower of Life». «Traffic», features Giering offering some impressive piano passages and John playing a series of wonderful drum breaks. The Latin-flavored «Lions at the Gate», features a very busy Sferra drum pattern pushing Keaggy, who’s on acoustic guitar. Of course, «In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida» (the only non-original on the album) is a showcase for Sferra, who offers a genuine, old-school drum solo. The song is mercifully shorter than the seventeen minute original, by the way.
Stand-out moments are many, but of particular note is the title-track, «Infinity Unleashed», where everybody finds their groove and works it out like a hot, sweaty band in an intimate venue. At about 2:25, when Giering’s B3 enters the mix, it’s a thing of beauty! «Stax The Deck» is a powerful, moody blues with clean but mean guitar licks, simmering piano, synth horns, and a stunning Sax solo by Douthit. Tight drumming, tasty guitar lines, hooky piano and sizzling sax breaks make «Late Show» a treat for the ears. It sounds like Booker-T meets Koinonia – an old-school soul instrumental.
If soulful funk-pop-jazz appeals to you this is a must-have. I would certainly welcome a fourth ‘Trio’ album. “Fourth of a series of three…” Why not? [Bert Saraco, The Phantom Tollbooth, 30 March 2014]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/infinity-unleashed-feat-jack-giering-phil-keaggy/852804810)
CD tracklist:
01. Cognitive Hammer – 4:08
02. Flower of Life – 4:24
03. Traffic – 3:26
04. Infinity Unleashed – 5:06
05. Lions At the Gate – 3:26
06. Stax the Deck (feat. Mark Douthit) – 4:29
07. Charang (feat. Mark Douthit) – 5:34
08. Late Show (feat. Mark Douthit) – 4:47
09. Astral Flats – 4:16
10. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (feat. Daniel Pecchio) – 5:00
11. Trio Rock – 3:45
Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://philkeaggy.bandcamp.com/album/infinity-unleashed
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