Glass
Harp Is Home With One Stellar Show
By ANDY GRAY
Tribune Chronicle
YOUNGSTOWN It took Glass Harp more than 25 years to come back home, but Phil Keaggy, Daniel Pecchio and John Sferra did everything they could to make it worth the wait for the sold-out crowd Sunday at Powers Auditorium.
The Youngstown-based power trio, which released three albums on Decca Records in the early '70s and toured with such acts as The Kinks, brought along a high-tech light show and about 25 members of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra for the concert.
In the first half, the group proved it didn't need anyone else to still dazzle a crowd. Before the orchestra even came on, Glass Harp played a first set longer than many full concerts a 90-minute mix of old favorites and newer material.
At the end of the set, Keaggy proved he could make as much sound as an orchestra on his own.
He used a synthesizer to sample the sound he was making on stage. Then he used those just-created samples to accompany himself on acoustic guitar. At one point he had a couple of rhythm guitar parts, a few percussion sounds and his own backing vocals to accompany his live guitar leads and voice.
It's the kind of technique that easily could come off as arrogant and self-inflating in another player, but Keaggy a successful contemporary Christian solo artist has the charm on stage to pull it off.
As engaging as Keaggy is on his own, he truly shines when playing off the talents of Pecchio, bass and vocals; and Sferra, drums and vocals.
The interplay between the three is remarkable, especially for guys who only play together occasionally these days.
Sunday's first set highlight was a rendition of Keaggy's "John the Revelator," where the three settled into an intense groove and just kept finding new directions within it to take the music. Their voices can blend as smoothly as their instruments, which they demonstrated on "Chalice."
Playing for a crowd filled with family and friends seemed to bring out an extra spark in the players. After a 10-minute version of "Look in the Sky" to start the evening, Pecchio said, "It still works, huh?"
Pecchio, who was a founding member of the Michael Stanley Band after Glass Harp broke up, also acknowledged John Preston, who first started him on playing the bass. They never ended up playing in a band together but, Pecchio said, "John's the pebble that started the landslide that landed me in this sordid career."
After being joined by only a couple of additional musicians for select songs in the first set, the second half opened with a classical piece for guitar and strings written by Keaggy that showed off his virtuosity as well as that of the orchestra.
On "One Day at a Time," Conductor Isaiah Jackson led the orchestra with his baton while keeping an eye on Keaggy to synchronize the strings with the cues in Keaggy's guitar soloes.
The strings could have been a little more prominent in the mix, but the pairing worked. And by the middle of the second half, Pecchio suggested, "I say we get a bus and go on tour. We'll take all these guys with us and corrupt them."
Judging by the response from the crowd, I think plenty of the audience members were ready to follow them from city to city.